Friday Alefia, a publisher with Naija News Today, has told FIJ that he paid N170,000 to secure a bed space while detained at Kuje Correctional Centre. Alefia said he spent 86 days in detention following allegations of cyberbullying levelled by a federal lawmaker, Chinedu Ogah, after reports linking the legislator to land-grabbing activities.
Alefia said he was arrested at his Lagos residence on September 24 by six policemen and detained at Area F Command, Ikeja, before being transferred to a defunct SARS facility in Abuja for six weeks. “They (SARS) are still operating… They are even worse than when they were fully in practice,” he told FIJ, describing the detention as harsh and unlawful.
He said he was later remanded in Kuje, where inmates allegedly paid for better sleeping spaces. “On the first day when I was remanded, I slept in front of the toilet because I didn’t have the money,” he said, adding that payments were made through a cell leader working with warders. The National Correctional Service denied the allegation, saying inmates are not charged for bed spaces.