A day in the lives of Bode George and Aminu Dabo

A NEXT on Sunday undercover investigation reveals that the circus that characterised the ₦100 billion contract splitting/inflation trial of Olabode George, a prominent member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is far from over, following his conviction on October 26. Instead, the spectacle has moved to Kirikiri Maximum security prison where Mr, George, a former Board Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority is serving a two-year jail sentence alongside five former directors of the organisation. They are Aminu Dabo, Olusegun Abidoye, Abdullahi Aminu Tafida, and Zanna Maidaribe.

In the last days of the year-long trial, men and women wearing uniform clothing (Asoebi) trooped to the court premises in support of Mr. George, with music bands and private security men in tow. The gay fabrics and the blaring bands are gone, and the location is different, but the show hasn’t changed much. This time, the crowds are visiting Mr. George at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison in Lagos, where he and Mr. Dabo now make up the facility’s population of 822 inmates.

A few weeks into Mr. George’s jail term, an undercover NEXT reporter managed to gain entry into Kirikiri. As early as 9am, when the reporter got to the jail, there were already more than six cars, (four of them jeeps) driven right to the front door of the maximum security prison. All were occupied by those wishing to visit Mr. George. The familiarity and deference with which the guards greeted the visitors was a clear indication that not only were they regulars guests at the jail but also important people in society.

But it was not only ‘big men’ that regularly visited Mr. George. Many more people made the journey on foot, trekking the short distance from the registration point under a tree to the front gate. Beyond this point, the scene that unfolds before the eyes could be equated with that at a typical governor’s office on a working day. Visitors hang around the area until they are called. Priority is given to chauffeured guests. Once inside the waiting area, guests are screened by security operatives, while all belongings are left on shelves at the reception area, including mobile phones.

“Before, we could have over 100 people wanting to see him, then we have to start calling them in by batches, but now at least 50 visitors come here every day to see oga George,” an official told NEXT, pleading anonymity. “Most of the visitors are from different wards of his party, mostly from Lagos State, with some PDP big men as well.

You know they might not to be marked down that they did not come to see him (Mr. George) during his time of tribulation so you see all of them coming in groups to say ‘Baba, we are from so and so area of the PDP’, or ‘we are with you’, and things like that.”

Mr. Bamidele Aturu, a lawyer who has represented convicts says Nigeria’s prisons have an abysmal visit system.

“Some of my clients’ visitors have complained of waiting long hours before being able to visit, or the visits themselves would be made extremely short, on the grounds that there isn’t sufficient personnel to monitor these visits.”

But this is not the case with Mr. George. NEXT’s investigations reveal that though he is treated like any other inmate, and must receive his associates and well-wishers on scheduled visiting days before 3 p.m., the former PDP national vice-chirman, south-west, has the privilege of hosting his visitors in the offices of the Deputy Controller of the prison. If there’s any waiting, this is because of the numbers of people involved.

“He receives his visitors in oga’s office. Oga personally monitors and supervises the visits because of the calibre of people involved,” an officer reprimanded his colleague to this reporter’s hearing, as he prepared to call in another set of visitors.

When contacted by NEXT via telephone, Ope Fatinikun spokesperson of the Nigerian Prison Service Lagos Command declined to tell NEXT the exact times for prison visits in the state. “It doesn’t go beyond 2:30pm but I don’t know why you people are so much concerned about one person like this,” he said.

Mr. Fatinikun also disclosed that there were different days for convicts as well as those awaiting trial. When asked if there was a particular limit to the number of visits each inmate was allowed, he said: “It depends. There is no particular number. Some people don’t have anybody visiting them.” He added that visiting times fell into “scheduled time and discretional time.”

“I have 4,500 inmates here; 80 per cent of whom are awaiting trials, we are not happy with that. Instead of focusing on one person, let us talk about how we can decongest the prison,” he said.

Inside Krikiri

The vast grounds of the Kirikiri Maximum Prison for men are neatly tended by the prisoners, a large percentage of whom look well fed and roam the area freely. Facing the gate which exits the prison yard is a tennis court and a large expanse of low-cut grass, which serves as a football field. A match is on, and the men shout as they dribble and tackle, sweating in the midday sun.

There are no big shots here; Hamza Al-Mustapha, the former Chief Security Officer to the late Sanni Abacha is cheering on two thickset inmates as they pant from the exertion of serving and returning forehands. He pauses to greet a few warders and partakes in some small talk from where he seats in a shaded area of the court.

Mr. Al-Mustapha, who is in custody over the murder of Kudirat Abiola, wife of the winner of the annulled June 12 1993 presidential election, has spent 10 years in Kirikiri.

Wearing a baseball cap, trainers and casual clothing, Mr. Al-Mustapha is clean-shaven, looks rested and smiles easily.

Unlike him, Mr. George has had no time for sports of any sort, even if he were so inclined.

“You see all the people that are here to see him, when will he have time? To their credit, most of them stay briefly and they leave, but they are just too many,” NEXT was told.

Meanwhile in his ‘personalised’ waiting room on the first floor, atop the Kirikiri prisons reception area, Mr. George holds court and spends the bulk of his time playing host. Twice, he looked out of the window and acknowledged the greetings of inmates and officials in the prison yard below by waving gently.

A tale of two inmates

The grounds of the Kirikiri Prison facility are agog with every sighting of its latest high-profile inmate.

At various times, a breathless “I have seen him!” or “He is such a quiet man, and “he greeted me first” was heard from snippets of conversation. A long-serving official who refused to be identified said the situation was “a familiar pattern.”

“That is how it always is when these big men come here. Of course, at first Mr. George will have so many visitors. He is reigning now. Then gradually, they start to reduce; it is only the family you will see. Before you know it, he is just like any inmate, and his colleagues and staff will relate to him like one of their own.”

Unlike Mr. George, this pattern has set in sooner for Mr. Dabo. He looks frailer than as pictured during his appearances in court, and has difficulties coping with his present circumstances. Sources revealed to NEXT that he has much fewer visitors, and based this on the fact that he is not a politician, and hails from Kano State, where a large chunk of his visitors may live.

Wearing a light blue babaringa (gown worn by men), black sandals and a traditional cap, Mr. Dabo took long walks on the grounds with some inmates. He is particularly close to Abdullateef Shofolahan, driver to the late Kudirat Abiola who has also served 10 years and is indicted in the same case as Mr. Al-Mustapha. Though both men converse in Hausa, Mr. Shofolahan is more flamboyant. He wears a red T-shirt, jeans and black loafers, while his boisterous voice often drowns the soft-spoken Mr. Dabo.

Survival instincts and benefits

Mr. Shofoluwe has also been heard loudly giving his friend survival tips intermittently in English; “We have to spend our money to change the things we do not like. Government cannot do all, you understand? Some of us have partitioned bathrooms, helped with painting and tiling of buildings that need it,” he said.

A prison official told NEXT inmates in various prisons nationwide were often happy when high-profile convicts were in their midst.

“Not that the prisoners want to assault them,” the source clarified in response to NEXT’s queries. “It is just that those who discover they will serve long terms then start helping in any way they can to improve the facilities for themselves and others.”

Mr. Shofoluwe left the presence of this NEXT reporter telling his fellow inmate: “At least, do something, let them know an MD of Nigerian Ports Authority was here,” he said, as a visibly embarrassed Mr. Dabo shook his head and quietly replied; “please, let’s go.” But that was not before he (Mr. Dabo) took out crisp 1,000 notes from a white envelope and placed them discreetly in the waiting palms of a very grateful official.

Issuance of uniforms

Mr. George and Mr. Daboh are the latest occupants at Block 2, where the holding cells are not as congested as others in the prison. “Those cells can have two or three inmates, but the others sometimes house up over 50 people at once,” NEXT was informed.

The men are not the only inmates who have a habit of not wearing their uniforms. Many others, visible from the visiting area, were in plain clothes. An official explained: “People have misconceptions about this issue. Awaiting trial inmates do not get uniforms, but every prisoner must have a uniform; it is the first thing they get. Occasionally you see that they wear their ordinary clothes when they have either washed their uniforms or are playing sports, or relaxing, that’s all. So long as they are convicted, all prisoners get a uniform. Anybody that says otherwise is lying.”

Will they observe manual labour as well?

The Maximum Security Prison is the last of three on the Kirikiri road. Coming from the expressway, the Medium Security Prison is first in line, and stands opposite the Kirikiri Magistrate Court and the Prison Training School. Next is the Kirikiri Female Prison, where four slim-built women wearing oversized fluorescent green uniforms and head scarves are taming long stems of grass with gleaming machetes. A female warder stands in their midst, loudly making a telephone call. Finally, at the tail end of the crescent-shaped road, the Maximum Prison looms.

When this NEXT reporter asked if the male prisoners get assigned manual tasks as observed with the females, the official replied “sure”. On further enquiries if Mr. George and Mr. Dabo would also be tending weeds and cutting down bushes, the official was uncertain. “I do not know, please. It’s not my place to say if and when that will happen.”

Escaping Kirikiri

Though the sentences are a fifth of what Mr. Al-Mustapha and Mr. Shofoluwe have undergone, Mr. George has remained a step ahead of the pack in his resolution to escape life in Kirikiri.

Following his October 26 conviction, Mr. George immediately had his lawyers file a notice of appeal requesting the court to set aside his conviction and grant him bail pending the determination of the appeal. The Court of Appeal in Lagos fixed November 19, two days to Mr. George’s 64th birthday, to hear his appeal.

But events during the hearing last Thursday, showed that Mr. Dabo and the other directors sentenced in the NPA case may have woken up to the reality of their predicament, as they insisted through their counsel that their appeals be heard alongside Mr. George’s.

“I notice that only the first applicant’s (Mr. George) hearing notice was slated for today, but I believe the applications should be taken together since it was brought on the same grounds, same issues, from the same lower court, and it is also based on the same argument,” said Joe-Kyari Gadzama, counsel to Mr. Maidaribe.

The three-member panel presided over by Monica Dongban-Mensem granted this request.

The result was that hearing on all appeals, including Mr. George’s, was shifted to December 01.

This decision means the men who once held sway at the NPA and Nigeria’s corridors of power will have to bear the tag “ex-convict” for longer. Just how much longer remains a matter for the nation’s courts to decide.