The Niger State Command of the Nigeria Correctional Service has refuted claims of the deaths of eight inmates in its facilities due to hunger or inadequate feeding.
In a statement released by the command’s Public Relations Officer, CSC Rabiu Mohammed Shuaibu, in Minna, it was clarified that there were no reported deaths of inmates in any of the correctional facilities due to lack of food. Shuaibu dismissed the reports of eight inmate deaths as entirely false, driven by ulterior motives, and intended to instigate fear in society.
He emphasized, “The command wants to make it unequivocally clear that no deaths occurred in any of its facilities due to inadequate feeding. The author, for reasons best known to them, failed to verify the information before disseminating it to the public, thereby causing unwarranted anxiety in society.”
Shuaibu further explained that despite the prevailing economic challenges and rising costs of food items, the feeding standard for inmates has remained consistent and uncompromised in the correctional facilities.