Activist Agba Jalingo has alleged that prison officials sell cell spaces to wealthy inmates for ₦300,000.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that prominent civil rights activist and journalist Agba Jalingo has accused some officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) of engaging in large-scale corruption by allegedly selling prison cell spaces to rich inmates for as much as ₦300,000.
Jalingo made the shocking revelation during a two-day Investigative and Accountability Journalism Masterclass organised by the Agba Jalingo Foundation in Calabar, Cross River State.
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“I am saying emphatically that some prison officials across the country sell cell spaces to richer inmates,” Jalingo stated. “Some charge ₦250,000, ₦300,000, or more. I know this because I spent time there and saw how it works.”
The outspoken journalist, who was once detained at the Afokang Federal Correctional Centre in Calabar, said his personal experience exposed the deep-rooted corruption within Nigeria’s prison system, where money determines access to basic rights and humane conditions.
According to him, countless inmates remain behind bars despite good behaviour or wrongful convictions because they cannot afford legal representation or bribes demanded by corrupt officials.
“While I was in Afokang, I documented names of inmates who were wrongly imprisoned or serving sentences for petty offences. I promised to fight for them when I got out,” he recalled.
Jalingo also commended Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State for recently granting amnesty to 54 inmates of the Afokang facility, following his personal appeal for clemency.
“Before my birthday, I wrote to Governor Otu asking him to show mercy to deserving inmates. I must say he surprised me by acting on that appeal,” Jalingo noted.
The activist, however, urged the Nigerian Correctional Service to launch a thorough investigation into the alleged sale of cell spaces and other exploitative practices, stressing that prison reform must begin with accountability and justice for the poor.
