Transformer explosion kills two prison inmates, injures others in A’Ibom

An explosion from a faulty transformer located near the Akwa Ibom State Custodial Centre has reportedly killed two inmates awaiting trial and injured two others.

Our correspondent reports that the incident, which occurred a fortnight ago, caused a blackout throughout the period and damaged electrical appliances in the centre.

According to reports, the high-voltage wire snapped and dropped directly on a portion of the custodial facility, causing an electrocution that led to the death of the inmates.

Meanwhile, the Akwa Ibom State Controller of Corrections, Frank Okonkwo, who confirmed the tragic passing of the two awaiting-trial inmates of the Uyo Custodial Centre on Thursday, described the incident as unfortunate.

Okonkwo, who regretted that the explosion also damaged all electrical appliances at the centre, disclosed that the victims were thrown up from where they were sitting and were later rushed to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital by the facility’s doctor, where they were pronounced dead.

He disclosed that the victims were awaiting trial for conspiracy, kidnapping, and armed robbery, noting, however, that they were presumed innocent until proven otherwise by the court.

He said the families had been contacted and that one of them had concluded the process for the retrieval of the corpse, adding that the command would only release the corpses upon completion of investigations.

According to him, “It was very unfortunate, because the thing caused a lot of damage, both to our facility and the families of the deceased.

“When that explosion occurred at the transformer, officials of PHEDC came and said the explosion was a result of too much voltage. The thing affected us in that it actually destroyed or damaged all electrical appliances, computers, etc., in our facility.

“It affected our barracks as well, and even the official residence of the officer in charge. But the most painful aspect of it was that it affected two of our inmates, who finally lost their lives as they were rushed to the hospital

They were thrown off from where they were staying, and immediately our medical personnel administered first aid, and rushed them to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, where they were later confirmed dead.

“It was a big loss, both to themselves and to the inmates, especially when they were just awaiting trial. One of them was standing trial for conspiracy and kidnapping, the other one for armed robbery.”

The controller, who recalled that the same transformer was faulty a few years back, called on the relevant authorities to address the issue to forestall a recurrence.

He added that the legal department was investigating the matter and would present a comprehensive report accordingly.

He also disclosed plans by the command to organise a rehabilitation and empowerment programme for inmates who had gone through rehabilitation, saying such inmates had acquired some skills and would be given start-up packs to enable them to be fully integrated when they were eventually discharged into the larger society.

According to him, the programme would enable them to be useful to themselves as well as to the community, so that they would not have any cause to reoffend and return to the custodial centre again.

“We are looking at 30 for now because the financing is going to be huge, because we relying mainly on the goodwill of our donors and organisations, those who have acquired various skills while in our custody, different skills like tailoring, carpentry, barbing and welding, and we intend to draw the beneficiaries from various custodial centres — Uyo, Ikot Abasi, Ikot Ekpene and Eket.

“Those who are serving terms but are on the verge of being discharged between now and December are convicts who have successfully accepted our treatment regime by getting themselves usefully engaged when they were in our custody. Those are the ones we want to show appreciation to by organising this programme.”

The Akwa Ibom State Custodial Centre, located in Uyo, is one of Nigeria’s medium-security correctional facilities under the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), which has in recent years battled issues of infrastructure decay, poor power supply, and overcrowding.