Dokument #1282230
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
Information regarding a prison on Loki
Island is currently unavailable to the IRBDC. However, the
following information on Nigerian prisons may prove helpful.
The Civil Liberties Organization of Nigeria
reports that Ikoyi prison, built with a capacity to house 800
inmates now houses about 2,400 inmates. [
ENDNOTES:
Civil Liberties Organization, Report on Human Rights in Nigeria
1989, Lagos: Civil Liberties Organization, 1989, p.4.
Attached.] The report states that prison deaths, due to congestion
and disease, are a daily occurrence. Seventy eight prisoners died
within a nine month period in 1989. [ Ibid.] Amnesty International
reported that eighty nine prisoners died in Ikoyi prison in Lagos
between January and October 1988. [ Amnesty International Report
1989, New York: Amnesty International USA, 1989, pp.76-77.] The
report stated that extremely harsh prison conditions constituted
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. [Ibid.] Inadequate food,
ventilation, space and medical attention were some of the reasons
cited for the inordinate numbers of prisoners dying and becoming
injured. [ Ibid.] Concern at the high rate of deaths in Nigerian
prisons led Amnesty International to claim that "it seems half of
the accused die before or during trial". [ "Nigeria: Public
Executions in Anambra State and Armed Robbery Suspects Die in
Detention in Oyo State", London: Amnesty International
Publications, 2 May 1990, p.1-2. Attached.]
It was reported that Ita Oko Island, a
prison colony secretly established a decade ago, was accessible
only by boat and helicopter. [ "Kenneth Noble, "In Nigeria, to Rot
in Jail is a Hazard of the Innocent", The New York Times, 29
June 1989. Attached.] Because there were reportedly no telephones,
no way to obtain medical care and no lawyers, inmates were
completely at the mercy of their jailers. [ Ibid.] This detention
camp situated in the Atlantic Ocean and measuring 10 square
kilometres, is reportedly infested with huge snakes, crocodiles,
mosquitoes and reptiles. [ "Teachers Detention Brings to Light
Nigeria's Prison Island", Reuters, 29 September 1988.
Attached.]
Attached please find excerpts from the
following documents dealing with Dodona Barracks, a prison on
Victoria Island:
"American Oilman Imprisoned in Nigeria Joins Family in San
Antonio", The Associated Press, 24 December 1987.