28/09/2024
‘Why Bobrisky was kept outside prison walls’
Inmates’ rights activist and Director General of the Prison Rehabilitation Mission, Bishop Kayode Williams has advanced the possible reason convicted dresser, Idris Okuneye, aka Bobrisky, might have been kept outside the walls of the designated Custodial Centre where he was to have served out his term even as Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has vowed to punish any official found wanting in the matter.
face of allegations that convicted cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye, aka Bobrisky, was sentenced to six months in prison but was allegedly given an apartment outside the custodial facility.
Already, the Federal Government has suspended two top officers of the Correctional Service; Michael Anugwa, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), in charge of the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC) in Kirikiri, Lagos State, and Sikiru Adekunle, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), in charge of the maximum Security Custodial Centre (MSCC) in Kirikiri, Lagos State.
Williams who spoke on a breakfast show on Arise Television monitored Friday in Abuja, said the fact that Bobrisky is a man but with the appearance of a woman, required a special arrangement for his accommodation. His position was corroborated by a former National Public Relations Officer of the Service, Controller Francis Enobore (retd).
Addressing the issue, Williams said; “There are accommodations for condemned prisoners, those sentenced to death, who must not mingle with other inmates. The second accommodation is for convicted inmates, who are the owners of the prison. The accommodation that is provided for males, are they going to bring Idris with his transgender body /looks to go and sleep in the general cell? The first thing they do is decide how to treat someone like that.
“They provided him a special place for protective custody because, with his appearance, he would be in danger. He looks like a woman, moves like a woman, and some homosexual inmates would be willing to take things to extreme lengths.”
On his part, Enobore said; “Yes, he confessed in court that he is a man but he came in bodily showing that he is a woman. Some of the people behind bars are unrepentant homosexuals. There is no doubt that if care was not taken, we would have a very serious security situation on our hands”.
Meanwhile, speaking at a media parley Friday in Abuja, the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Ojo
said the senior officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service NCoS who were already suspended was to ensure unhindered investigation into the matter.
He said; “We will not spare anybody no matter how highly placed. Let’s be patient. Investigation is on but let’s be assured that nobody will be shielded and nobody will be protected,” the minister stressed”.
Tunji-Ojo expressed confidence in the ability of the investigative panel headed by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Magdalene Ajani, to discharge its mandate creditably.
According to him members of the committee were carefully selected, with two of them from the civil society community.
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