Controversial crossdresser Idris Okuneye, known as Bobrisky, could face new criminal charges following allegations that he served his jail term in a private apartment and bribed officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to dismiss money laundering charges against him.
A panel established to investigate these claims has recommended that Bobrisky face both defamation and criminal charges.
Bobrisky was sentenced to six months in prison on April 12 for currency abuse and was released on August 5.
Just weeks after his release, the provocative social critic Martins Otse, known as VeryDarkMan, shared a voice note purportedly capturing a conversation between Bobrisky and another individual, in which Bobrisky allegedly confessed to bribing EFCC officers with N15 million to drop the money laundering charges. He also claimed to have bribed officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service to serve his six-month sentence in a private apartment.
In response to these accusations, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, formed an investigative panel on September 30, led by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Magdalena Ajani.
Upon presenting its findings, the panel reported no evidence that Bobrisky spent time outside the Kirikiri Custodial Centre during his six-month incarceration.
The report, released on Friday, revealed that Bobrisky had damaged the reputation of the correctional service with his false assertions.
Furthermore, the panel urged the Department of State Services to examine whether he offered bribes, directly or indirectly, to either the EFCC or the correctional service.
If the bribery allegations against Bobrisky are proven true, the panel recommended that he be charged with corrupt practices.
“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,” the report partly read.
The panel also indicted four correctional officers who were recommended for disciplinary action as outlined in the NCoS’s condition of service, civil service, and applicable laws.
One of those recommended for sanctions is a former Controller of Corrections, Ben Rabbi-Freeman.
He 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 in relation to 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.”
In addition, the Deputy Controller of Corrections who was in charge of the Kirikiri Medium Security, Micheal Anugwa, who claimed during a parliamentary inquiry that he had not been suspended despite an official order from the Minister of Interior, was recommended for disciplinary action.
He was indicted for receiving Bobrisky into the Medium Security Custodial Centre without the relevant documentation on April 12, 2024, and without the necessary transfer documentation.
“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 recommended an audit of all inmates and detainees in all custodial centres of the NCoS, their warrants, and other records. It asked that a mechanism be set up to do this and sustain it as an effective oversight weekly.
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 (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,” the report added.
Special facilities in custodial centres
A senior management officer of the NCoS said that what people called VIP treatment for certain prisoners was a special facility that had existed for years.
According to the high-ranking officer, custodial centres have different facilities and prisoners’ conditions (health, age, sex) determine which facility they stay in to serve their jail term.
The officer said, “There are different facilities in the custodial centres across the country, and it is not out of place to treat some of the prisoners according to their health conditions, sex, age, and category of the sentence. Importantly, the prison authority also considers human rights and the treatment of the prisoners.
“The case of Bobrisky is an eye-opener for us. The NCoS authority confirmed that he is a woman from the middle upward, while he is a man from the middle downward. We had never had such a person in our custody, and there is no facility for such a situation. He had to be placed in a separate cell so that he wouldn’t be abused. That facility is what he ignorantly called a private apartment.
“Whether VIP or not, the condition of a prisoner will determine the facility he/she is going to stay in. We can’t put a prisoner who has high blood pressure in a cell without enough ventilation.”
