The Enugu state police in response to tweets about condition of cells in the states, defended the inhumane treatment meted out to inmates of prison.
A Twitter user had asked;
@PoliceNG_Enugu what are you doing about you cells, were by a person been detained can’t even breathe fresh air before he or she gets bail
Replying the tweet, the Enugu State Police Command tweeted;
Sir, you don’t go to cell expecting to be served Chicken and Chips.
To address our previous tweet. Dear Nigerians, it was not in our plans to violate anybody’s right, as the Nigerian Police strive to secure lives and properties while administering transparency in Justice.
At that, we don’t wish for anybody to enter any of our cells, as our cells are for those who break the law. Please dear Nigerian, BE LAW ABIDING. The Police Is Your Friend.
The tweets got the attention of Dr Joe Abah, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), who wrote;
This is even more shameful. I have visited Enugu prisons. If your prisons reflect the priority you place on human rights, it is clear that you have none.
This is a shameful tweet, which I have reported to your bosses.
Recall that Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo once said, that any human who goes into a Nigerian prison, comes back as animal.
Osinbajo said this in a public presentation of three volumes of prison survey report (PSR) put together by the Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) and the Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA).
The VP, represented at the occasion by the Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau (rtd), said that the situation calls for concern. He regretted that Nigeria Prisons were neglected by successive governments.
Osinbajo noted that some 3700 inmates that have been in the Port-Harcourt prison for over five years, were still awaiting trial.