In a significant development, over 150 inmates have been relocated from Okere Correctional Facility in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State to various prisons in northern Nigeria. This move comes amid investigations into allegations that some inmates were leaving the facility to commit crimes.
Reports have previously exposed widespread fraud, blackmail, and corruption at Okere Correctional Facility. Inmates were found to have access to mobile phones, bank accounts, and private meeting spaces for illegal activities, raising serious concerns about prison security.
One victim unknowingly became romantically involved with an inmate, Perez Ekiyor, after meeting him on Facebook in 2019. She opened a bank account for him and later discovered large sums of money being deposited. When she tried to end the relationship, he retaliated by leaking their private conversations and explicit photos online.
Another woman nearly fell for a similar scam in 2023 when an inmate, posing as a worker in Ibadan, built an emotional connection with her and later attempted to extort ₦200,000. A prison officer intervened, warning her that the man had been incarcerated since 2020 and was part of a known fraud ring.
Further investigations linked Okere inmates to a robbery on January 3, 2025, in which criminals stole valuables and transferred ₦4 million from a victim’s account. Police traced the crime to the prison but faced resistance from officials before eventually arresting a death row inmate who confessed to masterminding the scheme.
Sources informed SaharaReporters that the transferred inmates have been distributed to different facilities in the North. A relative of one of the inmates confirmed that their family member, previously held at Okere, is now in Kano Prison. The inmate reported harsh conditions and difficulties adapting to the new environment.
An official confirmed the inmate transfers, stating that they are part of routine procedures to decongest correctional facilities. However, the prison has refused to disclose further details. The relocation of inmates to distant facilities will make maintaining contact with their families increasingly difficult.
Umar Abubakar, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Correctional Service, confirmed the inmate transfer, adding that it is part of the process to decongest correctional facilities. He stated that when a particular custodial center is overcrowded, the Controller General has the authority to transfer inmates from one custodial center to another.
This development raises questions about the management of correctional facilities and the measures in place to prevent inmates from engaging in criminal activities while incarcerated.