A total of 1,754 inmates are currently being housed at Enugu maximum prison, while 160 condemned prisoners have been on the death roll for years awaiting the hangman’s noose.
This startling revelation came from a one-day strategy meeting of stakeholders in the justice and prisoners welfare sector organised by the Catholic Institute for Development Justice and Peace, CIDJAP, in Enugu, weekend.
In attendance at the forum were the host, the Director of CIDJAP, Monsignor Ike Obiora, Anthony Ikechukwu Ani, SAN, the Attorney General and the Commissioner for Justice Enugu State, Sir Alloy Uchenwa, the Comptroller of Prisons, Enugu Prison, the Commissioner of Police, who was represented by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr. O. A. Oyekunle, representatives of the National Orientation Agency, NOA, and the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, among others.
The forum noted: “It is worrisome to discover that Enugu State maximum prison was established in 1915 with a capacity for 600 inmates, but is currently housing 1,754 inmates.
‘’Nsukka Prison was built in 1926, Oji Prison in 1992 and Ibite Olo Farm Centre in 1976. All these prisons are housing more than their capacities and the inmates are sleeping in turns in the cells that are meant for two but taking eight persons per cell.”
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