Nigerian inmates at Kirikiri maximum security custodial centre in Apapa, Lagos, have warned they may riot over alleged racial segregation by authorities.
According to some Condemned Convicts (CC), authorities were showing undue favouritism to a Netherlands national, one Peter Nelson, who was sentenced to death for killing three Nigerians; his wife, daughter, and the wife’s relation at Banana Island, Lagos.
It was gathered that the management at Kirikiri gave Nelson some privileges, such as allowing him a room to himself in Block Two, contrary to rules, which required all condemned criminals to stay in a designated cell.
The inmates said that when Al-Mustapha, a former Chief Security Officer to former General Sani Abacha, was condemned to death, he was removed from the privileged block.
The Guardian gathered that trouble began when the founder of Hilton Hotel, Ile-Ife, Ramon Adedoyin, who was sentenced to death for the murder of Timothy Adegoke, a student of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, wanted the same privilege accorded to Nelson. The management, however, claimed that it granted Nelson exemption over fear that angry inmates may mob him for killing three Nigerians.
The inmates demanded that Adeoyin be allowed to stay in Block Two or that Nelson be brought to the condemned criminals’ section. They claimed that Nelson hates Nigerian inmates and treats them with scorn.
He was also alleged to have boasted that the Nigerian government is terrified of his country, the Netherlands; hence the Minister of Internal Affairs and the management of the correctional service broke the rules to keep him in the privileged block.
They added that Nelson boasted that the Netherlands’ ambassador is applying pressure on the government for his acquittal at the Supreme Court, so that he could return to his country a free man.
When contacted, spokesperson for the Nigerian Correctional Service, Abubakar Umar, told The Guardian on phone that the allegations were false and unfounded.
According to him, it is not uncommon to hear such allegations in the line of duty.
