Civil rights activist and journalist, Agba Jalingo, has accused officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service of engaging in corrupt practices by selling cell spaces to wealthy inmates for as much as ₦300,000.
Jalingo made the allegation during a two-day Investigative and Accountability Journalism Masterclass organised by the Agba Jalingo Foundation in Calabar, Cross River State.
He said, “I am saying emphatically that some prison officials across the country sell cell spaces to richer inmates. Some charge ₦250,000, ₦300,000 or more. I know this because I spent time there and saw how it works.”
The journalist, who was previously detained at the Afokang Federal Correctional Centre in Calabar, described his incarceration as a “revelation” of the deep-seated corruption that thrives within Nigeria’s prison system.
According to him, the practice of trading cell spaces is only one example of a much broader pattern of exploitation and injustice.
Jalingo said, “Many inmates are languishing in jail not because they are guilty but because they cannot afford legal representation or the bribes demanded by officials. The system is structured in a way that punishes the poor and rewards those who can pay.”
He said his personal experience inspired his ongoing advocacy for prison reform and justice for wrongly convicted inmates.
Jalingo also expressed gratitude to the Cross River State Governor, Bassey Otu, for granting amnesty to 54 inmates of the Afokang facility, following his appeal for leniency towards prisoners who had demonstrated good conduct.
He said, “While I was in Afokang, I took down the names of several inmates who were either wrongly imprisoned or serving sentences for very minor offences. I promised to fight for them when I regained freedom.
“Before my birthday, I wrote to Governor Otu, asking him to extend mercy to deserving inmates. I must say he surprised me positively by acting on that appeal and releasing 54 of them.”
The activist called on the authorities of the Nigerian Correctional Service to launch an internal investigation into the alleged sale of cell spaces and other corrupt practices in the nation’s prisons.
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