[dropcap]H[/dropcap]igh Chief Raymond Dokpesi was totally appalled by what he saw during his brief two day stay at Kuje Prisons. So much so that he spoke to the management of AIT to make prison reform a burning issue. He says he can’t possibly believe people have to live under these conditions
Apparently, Kuje is our flagship prison in Nigeria. I can’t even imagine… na flag hell.
What amazed me was the way he recalled exact figures of inmates in the two areas of the prison. With an over bloated population, the prison has only two conveniences in each zone. Na wa for Nigeria.
In there, Dopkesi said, he saw the bad and the ugly.
He said he met an armed robber who remembered him and confessed to trying to attack and kill him unsuccessfully years ago on Benin-Ore Road. But the dude killed occupants in the car behind Dopkesi’s vehicle. He is currently serving a life imprisonment sentence.
He also met a man who had been in jail for 8 years because he was a bus driver and his bus was stolen by armed robbers. But his boss would have none of it and insisted that he must pay N1.8m for the stolen bus. He agreed to make the payment, but failed to do so because he hadn’t any job (his bus being stolen). So, he ended up in Kuje Prisons and has been awaiting trial for 8 years.
Dokpesi is in absolutely high spirits. We seemed to have been more worried about him while he was enjoying an adventure.
He says his matter must go to court and the court must hear him give his own side of the story. He says he would never accept for them to drop the charges.
Sola Kuti (SK) is a new age politician, a serial entrepreneur and social justice crusader with a passion for children. He has been a member of the PDP for 12 years. Connect with him on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
