All staff members at Okere Prison have been replaced following shocking revelations that some inmates at the facility were linked to an armed robbery in Benin City, Edo State.
Despite the personnel change, the new prison officials have reportedly refused to release three other suspects to the police for further investigation.
SaharaReporters exclusively reported that the robbery occurred on January 3, 2025, when armed assailants attacked a young man, stole valuable items, and transferred N4 million to an online bank account.
The crime was initially reported to the Edo State Police Command, but progress in identifying the perpetrators was slow.
Investigators made a breakthrough when a geo-analysis of the bank account used for the transaction led them to the Udu area of Delta State. The police arrested the account holder, a woman who claimed she was unaware of the crime.
She revealed that her boyfriend, whom she met online, instructed her to open the account, claiming his phone had fallen into a river. She was later asked to withdraw and transfer large sums of money.
Further investigation traced the robbery to inmates at the Warri Correctional Facility (Okere Prison). When police stormed the prison, they were met with resistance from the officials, who initially refused to produce the suspects.
However, authorities managed to apprehend one of them—an inmate on death row—who confessed to participating in the crime.
According to Engr. Udoka Emmanuel Chika-Dibie, Executive Assistant (Security) to the Delta State Governor, who confirmed the report, corrupt prison officials allegedly accepted bribes, allowing inmates to leave the facility for criminal activities and return unnoticed.
“Inmates left prison custody, travelled to Benin City, robbed a victim, and returned to the prison as if nothing happened,” Chika-Dibie said. “The robbery was orchestrated by prisoners who had the backing of corrupt officials who facilitated their movement.”
Providing an update further, a top source told SaharaReporters on Tuesday that only one of the kidnappers out of the four-man prison gang from Okere prison was handed over to the police.
“We refused to be intimidated by prison officials. This morning, the prison officials out of pressure have called the police to come over to arrest the other three suspects who are inside the prison. What kind of a country is this?
“Those sentenced to death inside the prison, come out to rob and kidnap, then returned to the prison to live large. If we do not interrogate the system, we have failed our generation,” the top source lamented.
Despite efforts by the police, prison officials reportedly refused to release three other suspects involved in the robbery after changing personnel.
“Their oga (boss) came from Asaba on Tuesday and changed all the staff in the prison and replaced them with the new ones.
“The new personnel have refused to release the three other suspects to the police for further investigation,” the source told SaharaReporters on Tuesday.
The case has sparked widespread outrage, with calls for urgent reforms within Nigeria’s correctional system.
Comrade Israel Joe, a public affairs analyst, condemned the actions of the Okere Prison authorities and warned of mass protests if the suspects are not handed over.
“This shows high complicity and compromise from their end. They definitely know what is going on, and we shall not allow this to slide,” he stated.
“If the authorities fail to act, we will mobilise and protest at Okere Prison to demand justice.”
Meanwhile, Bright Edafe, the Public Relations Officer of the Delta State Police Command, has yet to issue an official statement on the case.
The shocking revelations have raised concerns about the integrity of Nigeria’s prison system and its role in criminal activities outside prison walls.
Many are now calling for a full-scale investigation and disciplinary action against corrupt officials involved in aiding criminals.