Protest broke out at the Kuje Prisons near
Abuja on Thursday over alleged preferential treatment of three
Lebanese inmates by officials of the facility.
The protest took place just as
the Defence Headquarters said that over 1,000 suspected members of the
Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, were in detention
facilities in the country.
The Lebanese prisoners –
Mustapha Fawaz, Abdallah Thahani and Talal Ahmed Rodo – believed to be
members of an international terrorist group, Hezbollah, were said
to have been allowed to use a particular area of the prison ground for the Eid-fitri prayers while other inmates,
including Boko Haram suspects, were restricted to another place.
The Lebanese are standing
trial at a Federal High Court, Abuja, for terrorism and illegal
importation of firearms.
The protesting
inmates destroyed some amenities, including water pipes,
electric cables and cell windows.
A source told one of our
correspondents that the angry inmates also splashed water on some of the prison
officials who ran for their safety.
A Boko Haram inmate serving
a life sentence was said to have fainted during the melee.
Our source said, “The
tension was brought under control by the Deputy Comptroller-General in charge
of Operations, Mr. Segun Bewaji, who attended to the convict
that fainted. But the inmates in the single cells were restive and
refused to be pacified by the DCG.”
The Lebanese suspects
were moved to the prison on August 2, 2013 based on an application by their lawyer,
Ahmed Raji (SAN), who claimed that they were no longer comfortable in the
custody of the State Security Service.
The court had granted the
application and the suspects were promptly transferred to Kuje Prisons.
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Society
Why on earth would they be given a privilege at all?
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