The death of an inmate at Kirikiri maximum security prison has been traced to former first lady Patience Jonathan.
The case, which began as a routine arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over $3.1m, has revealed a system of torture and extra-judicial impunity, which might have led to the death of an inmate of the Kirikiri Maximum Prison, Lagos, Suleiman Yerima.
The $3.1m in contention allegedly belonged to Mrs. Patience Jonathan, wife of former President, Goodluck Jonathan, who was said to have earmarked the money for exigencies during the campaign period leading up to the 2015 general election.
Antia, the deceased’s co-accused, explained that he thought he was going to die the way he was tortured in the custody of the police.
“We handed over the outstanding amount of money to one of the bankers (Dennis) at the Murtala International Airport. I am well known to them. This is not the first of such contracts we would handle for them. They represent Mrs. Patience Jonathan, the wife of the former President and we have supplied them dollars on many occasions. When they approached us about the need to supply the dollars for Mrs. Jonathan’s campaign activities during the election, I told them we could handle it as usual. Unfortunately, they diverted her money this time.
“After we were arraigned and the judge said we should be remanded in custody, the EFCC operatives laid ambush for us around the court and forcibly took us from prison officials.
“We were later transferred to Zone 2 Police Command where I was tortured more than I could imagine. I was stripped, held up by my feet as they dipped my head inside a bucket filled with water for long. By the time they do that to you, you would even say what you did not do.
“They shot me in the foot and hung me up with my two hands tied separately and my legs tied in similar way from night till morning.
After that, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, Joseph Mbu, ordered that they should transfer me to the Maroko Police Division, where I was locked up in a cell. I defecated on the same floor I slept for one month.
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