Bobrisky enjoyed some privileges in prison – FG panel

An investigative panel set up by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has said that a Nigerian crossdresser, Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky, enjoyed special privileges while at the Medium and the Maximum Security Custodial Centres.

A member of the panel and the Executive Director and founder of Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action, Uju Agomoh, stated this while reading the phase one report of the panel on Monday in Abuja.

A controversial social critic, Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, had shared a voice note allegedly belonging to Bobrisky, who claimed that a “godfather,” alongside staff members of the Nigerian Correctional Service, ensured he served the six-month sentence in a private apartment and not in prison.

On September 30, the minister constituted an investigative panel chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Magdalena Ajani, and ordered a probe into the alleged corruption and other violations against the Nigerian Correctional Service.

Reading the report on behalf of the panel, Agomoh said Bobriksy enjoyed several privileges while in both Custodial Centres, including furnished single cells, a humidifier, and many visits from his family members and friends.

He said, “The panel also found that Mr. Okuneye Idris enjoyed several privileges while in custody, both at the Medium Security and the Maximum Security Custodial Centres, which include, especially the following: furnished single cells, humidifier, lots of visits by his family members and friends as he desired, self-feeding, designated inmates to run errands for him, access to fridge and television, and possibly access to his phone.

“It is necessary to further investigate if the above privileges provided for Okuneye Idris were financially motivated and based on corrupt practices by correctional officers.

“The panel believes that the peculiar case of the inmates and the inmates’ physical look and behaviour pose a threat, and the lack of laid-down rules for the treatment of such a case may have necessitated such privileges to be granted to Okunenye Idris.”

Agomoh, however, said Bobrisky’s transfer to a maximum security facility as a first offender violated Section 164A and Section 164B of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act of 2019.

The panel, chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Magdalena Ajani, is investigating the alleged corruption and other violations levelled against the Nigerian Correctional Service.