Officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) assisted Haruna Ayo, a convicted armed robber, on May 19 as he tried to escape detention and process a passport and visa at the Nigeria Immigration Service passport office in FESTAC Town, Lagos.
According to The Punch, Ayo was a convicted armed robber who was supposed to complete his 21-year jail term in the Kirikiri Maximum Security Custodial Centre, Apapa, on October 11. He was initially sentenced to life imprisonment but, through an appeal, his sentence was reduced to 21 years.
On the day Ayo escaped, he was chosen alongside four other convicts selected to carry out a menial job at the residence of the officer in charge of the custodial centre.
On their way to do the menial task, an orderly appointed to go with the inmates, told the supervising officer he had an order from a superior to release Ayo to him.
From there, Ayo was transported to the passport office.
“However, while waiting to be attended to, the warder escorting him became impatient and said, ‘I need to take him back to the cell,'” a source told The Punch.
“This raised suspicion among immigration officers, who then detained both the inmate and the warder and alerted their superiors.”
The immigration officers then contacted the Lagos headquarters of the NCoS, Alagbon.
Subsequently, two NCoS officials have been suspended.
However, the sources believed that the real culprit of the inmate’s attempted escape had not been punished.
“I think the real culprits are not being punished. It’s a system and many people are involved,” they said.
Another source explained further that the escape ploy had been ongoing since 2024, but because of the NCoS’ probe of Idris Okuneye, the Nigerian crossdresser known as Bobrisky, Ayo’s escape plan had to take a momentary pause.
“What happened was that this particular inmate, a convict, claimed he had a health problem, which necessitated his visit to a hospital in that neighbourhood. However, during the process, he started processing his passport and visa documents by proxy,” the source said.
“The whole thing started last year and he seemed to be progressing with the passport and visa applications until the correctional service started probing the Bobrisky (Idris Okuneye) case. The convict’s case was not known that time. Apparently, he was among those enjoying special treatment in the maximum prison.
“After the suspension of top officers, things changed as new officers took over. Security was tightened and people who enjoyed certain privileges had those things withdrawn.
“This particular convict then started protesting and threatening blackmail. His conduct led to investigations. A search was conducted and it was discovered he had been processing the travel documents. It is suspected that the hospital where he claimed to be receiving treatment was also involved in the compromise. The prison authorities discovered that three medical evaluations had already cleared him that he was medically fit. Whereas he was using that to do all manner of things.”
Kirikiri has been a notorious correctional centre for official corruption in the past.
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