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DPA
Lagos
Four inmates on death row in Nigeria were killed during an altercation with prison staff after the government announced plans for early release due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, authorities have confirmed.
“Four inmates died in the hospital from the injuries sustained in the melee that ensued while being restrained by the custodial officers from breaking jail,” said Sanusi Mu’azu Danmusa, head of correctional services in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna State. It was not immediately clear how the prisoners sustained their fatal injuries, but local media had reported gun shots being fired.
They also reported that an inmate who had shown signs of having Covid-19 - the potentially deadly disease caused by the novel coronavirus - had sparked the riots on Tuesday.
Danmusa said his statement was in response to “malicious publications by a section of the media.”
He said the prisoners had been demanding their release based on rumours that the government intended to free 70 per cent of inmates.
Earlier in the week, Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola said that with the number of Covid-19 cases steadily growing in Nigeria, the prisons would be “decongested” so as to prevent the spread of the virus among the country’s large prison population. He did not say who or how many would be released. Inmates in Nigeria often live in cramped conditions as the country’s prisons are usually overcrowded, many of them housing more than four times their capacity.
Other countries around the world - such as France, Tunisia, Algeria, Ethiopia and Iraq - have announced similar plans to halt the spread of Covid-19 in their correctional facilities.
Lagos
Four inmates on death row in Nigeria were killed during an altercation with prison staff after the government announced plans for early release due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, authorities have confirmed.
“Four inmates died in the hospital from the injuries sustained in the melee that ensued while being restrained by the custodial officers from breaking jail,” said Sanusi Mu’azu Danmusa, head of correctional services in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna State. It was not immediately clear how the prisoners sustained their fatal injuries, but local media had reported gun shots being fired.
They also reported that an inmate who had shown signs of having Covid-19 - the potentially deadly disease caused by the novel coronavirus - had sparked the riots on Tuesday.
Danmusa said his statement was in response to “malicious publications by a section of the media.”
He said the prisoners had been demanding their release based on rumours that the government intended to free 70 per cent of inmates.
Earlier in the week, Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola said that with the number of Covid-19 cases steadily growing in Nigeria, the prisons would be “decongested” so as to prevent the spread of the virus among the country’s large prison population. He did not say who or how many would be released. Inmates in Nigeria often live in cramped conditions as the country’s prisons are usually overcrowded, many of them housing more than four times their capacity.
Other countries around the world - such as France, Tunisia, Algeria, Ethiopia and Iraq - have announced similar plans to halt the spread of Covid-19 in their correctional facilities.
