Controversial Nigerian crossdresser Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky, may be charged with new crimes after allegedly completing his jail sentence in a private flat and buying off EFCC officers to dismiss money laundering allegations against him.
AFRIPOST reported that Bobrisky was freed from prison on August 5 after being found guilty of misusing the naira on April 12 and given a six-month term.
An investigative panel on “Alleged Corruption & Other Violations Against the Nigerian Correctional Service” was established on September 30 by Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who was chaired by Magdalena Ajani, the ministry’s permanent secretary, to look into the issues surrounding Bobrisky’s release.
Following the release of a video by the controversial activist VeryDarkMan, in which Bobrisky claimed to have bribed EFCC officials with N15 million to drop the money laundering charge against him and bribed Nigerian Correctional Service officials to serve his six-month sentence in a private flat, Tunji-Ojo ordered an investigation.
The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) controller general Haliru Nababa and Bobrisky’s “godfather” made sure she spent the six-month term in a private flat rather than jail, according to a voice on the video that purportedly belonged to Bobrisky.
In its assessment, the panel did state, however, that there was no proof that Bobrisky slept outside the Kirikiri Custodial Centre while serving his six-month term.
A panel established to look into Bobrisky’s accusations suggested that he be charged with defamation and criminal offences, according to details of the report that Sunday PUNCH was able to get.
The panel said Bobrisky’s bogus statements damaged the correctional service’s reputation and requested that the Department of State Services look into whether he bribed the correctional service or the EFCC directly or through a proxy.
The panel also stated that Bobrisky ought to face charges of corruption if his bribery claims are proven true.
The report read, “The Nigerian Correctional Service should file defamation suits against Bobrisky under sections 373-375 of the Criminal Code Act for his false claims about bypassing the prison system, tarnishing the institution’s reputation.
“The DSS should be requested to investigate whether Bobrisky, directly or through a proxy, bribed EFCC or NCoS officials. If substantiated, Bobrisky should face charges under the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act for bribing public officials.”
By the NCoS’s condition of service, civil service, and relevant regulations, the panel also recommended disciplinary action against three correctional personnel, including Ben Rabbi-Freeman, a former Controller of Corrections.
Rabbi-Freeman was accused of “effecting the transfer of Okuneye Idris Olarenwaju without proper documentation of Form 5 and Form 5A from the Medium-Security Custody Centre to the Maximum-Security Custodial Centre on April 22, 2024, after over four months of the transfer date, and after the inmate had ended his imprisonment term; backdating the transfer documentation about 1a and 1b above.
“Causing the in-charge Ikoyi Custodial Centre, in-charge Medium-Security Custodial Centre, and in-charge Maximum-Security Custodial Centre to sign backdated transfer documents in relation to Okuneye Idris Olarenwaju.”
Micheal Anugwa, the Deputy Controller of Corrections, who oversaw Kirikiri Medium Security, was also suggested for disciplinary action when he stated in a parliamentary investigation that he had not been suspended despite a formal directive from the Interior Minister.
On April 12, 2024, he was charged with accepting Bobrisky into the Medium Security Custodial Centre without the required paperwork and the required transfer paperwork.
“DCC Balogun Sikiru (retd) — formerly in charge of Maximum Security Custodial Centre for receiving Bobrisky into the Maximum Security Custodial Centre without the relevant documentation on April 22, 2024, and without the necessary transfer documentation, and DCC Sikiru Kamoru Adekunle who was in charge of the Maximum Security Custodial Centre for backdating the transfer documentation in relation to receiving of Okuneye Idris into the Maximum Security Custodial Centre on April 22, 2024, which was a period he was yet to resume as the in-charge of the Maximum Security Custodial Centre.”
The panel further suggested that all detainees and prisoners in all NCoS correctional facilities have their warrants and other documents audited. It also suggested that a system be established to carry out this audit and maintain it as a successful weekly supervision.
It demanded “decommercialisation of all welfare and support services to inmates with immediate effect and ensuring that adequate funding and oversight are put in place to ensure the continuation of these. This will also include building sustainable partnerships with civil society organisations (for example, with relevant NGOs and professional associations) on some or all of these.
“Facilitate the effective implementation of non-custodial measures across the entire country to help reduce the number of people in custodial centres by utilising imprisonment only as a last resort.”
