Hundreds of prisoners at the Jos Correctional Centre demonstrated on Friday against the facility’s administrators’ intentions to cut back on their intake of rice and beans due to rising costs for basic necessities.
The officer in charge of feeding the prisoners had gathered them together to let them know about the conversation they had with the contractor who supplied their food on the rise in market prices for food items and the decision to cut back on their rice intake from four times a week to twice a week.
The detainees were reportedly incensed by this revelation, and as a result, they violently protested by throwing stones and other deadly objects at the center’s workers.
After being reached by Pressmen, Mr. Ibinule Raphael, the Controller of Corrections at Plateau State Command, verified the occurrence and stated that the inmates’ protest was caused by the contractor feeding them, who planned to lower their rice consumption from four times a week to twice a week.
He continued by saying that there was chaos as the detainees were not happy with the new plan to eat rice twice a week, even though the person in charge was attempting to get the contractor’s word across to them.
“So this morning, as usual, I went to the yard to see what was going on there. I saw an officer addressing the inmates, and when I asked what was going on, he told me he was briefing them on the outcome of his conversation with the contractor that is billed to supply them with food this month,” he stated.
“He said the contractor stated that he would not be able to feed them rice four times a week again because of the high cost of things in the market and could only cope by reducing it to twice a week.
“The proposal for last year was that inmate feeding should increase, which has not taken off. So, when he called them this morning to explain things to them, they didn’t like it. So, when I was informed, I told him to tell them to get back to their rooms, and they refused to go back.
“So, when they remained adamant, some canisters of tear gas were released, and gunshots were fired into the air to force them into their rooms. That was how we were able to save the situation. Before that, they had started throwing stones and other objects at the staff.
“Some of the personnel sustained minor injuries from the stones thrown at them but no inmates were injured as the situation was brought under control.”