The current eceonomic hardship in the country, may have hit the correctional facilities across the country.
Hundreds of Inmates at the Jos Correctional Center on Friday, in Plateau state, staged a violent protest against plans by the authorities to decrease their rice and beans rations due to the rising prices of essential commodities.
NewsSpecng gathered that trouble started when the officer responsible for food distribution convened the inmates around 11:45 am to discuss his conversation with the food supplier regarding the market’s food price increases and the proposed reduction in rice consumption from four times a week to twice per week.
The arrangement did not go down well with the inmates, who reacted negatively to the plan and resorted to violence, hurling stones and other objects at the staff.
In response, officials fired warning shots into the air to deter further unrest.
The Comptroller of Corrections, Plateau State Command, Ibihunwa Raphael,confirmed the incident, saying that the inmates’ protest was triggered by the contractor’s decision to decrease their rice consumption from four times a week to twice weekly.
He said: “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 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 remain adamant, some canisters of tear gas are released, and gunshots are 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.”
According to him, normalcy has since returned to the Correctional Center, adding that people are going about their duties as he maintained that no inmate sustained injuries.
