Five inmates have been killed as a result of an electrical fault in one of the cells at the Ikoyi Medium Security Custodial Centre, Lagos.
Spokesman of the Nigeria Correctional Service, Francis Enobore, disclosed this in a statement made available to Daily Trust yesterday.
But Daily Trust gathered that many others were still battling for their lives in an undisclosed hospital, on Monday night.
“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 electrical fault in one of the cells. This is indeed tragic and most ill-fated”, the statement read in part.
He said the CG, who visited the scene of the incident with the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, noted that it was the first time the NCoS was experiencing such a disaster in its history.
He added that the CG had ordered an immediate investigation into the sad incident with a view to taking necessary actionto forestall reoccurrence.
He commiserated with the families of the diseased inmates and prayed for quick recovery of the seven others receiving treatment in hospital.
As at the time of the incident, Ikoyi Medium Security Custodial Centre, built in 1955 for 800 inmates, had a population of 3,113 with 2,680 as awaiting trial persons.
Daily Trust reports that the particular cell where the disaster occurred had capacity for 35 but 140 inmates were said to be locked in it when the incident happened.
