Nigeria: Ikoyi prison electrocution caused by overcrowded cell

Controller-General of the Nigeria Correctional Service, Ja’afaru Ahmed, has said that the cell in which some inmates got electrocuted at the Ikoyi Custodial Centre on Monday morning was caused by overcrowding.

According to him, the facility had a capacity of 35 but accommodated 140 persons.

Apart from those killed in the incident, at least 10 others sustained injuries.

In a statement, Francis Enobore, spokesperson for the service, quoted Ahmed as describing the incident as “tragic and most ill-fated”.

He said, “Early this morning, the Controller-General of Corrections, Ja’afaru Ahmed, received with the deepest grief, the unfortunate death of five inmates of Ikoyi Medium Security Custodial Centre, Lagos, as a result of an electrical fault in one of the cells. This is indeed tragic and most ill-fated.

*“The CG, who visited the scene of the incident with the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, noted that it was the wrong time in the history of the NCoS to experience such a disaster. *

“He, therefore ordered an immediate investigation into the sad incident with a view to taking necessary actions in order to forestall future occurrence.”

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