By Alpha Abu
The April 29 riot at the Pademba road Male Correctional Centre in Freetown shocked the entire country and was invariably the most serious incident that posed a threat to the nation’s stability, since the war ended in 2002. Inmates were desperate and quite determined to escape lawful custody and resorted to arson and unprecedented levels of violence against officers and rival fellow inmates in their brazen attempt to do so.
The preliminary report into the incident produced by the Correctional Service put the death toll at 30 inmates and one officer called Hassan. 12 inmates died from gunshot wounds, 16 from blunt force apparently sustained in rival battles against other inmates and 2 others from illnesses.
Also as we heard from Information and Communication, Minister Mohamed Rahman Swaray, that historic buildings within the facility were torched and completely destroyed. Security analysts have said, had the gates of Pademba been successful breached by the inmates, the city of Freetown could have degenerated into an orgy of violence and complete breakdown of law and order.
Over 200 inmates were to be freed that very day from the various correctional facilities across the country, as a result of the traditional presidential pardon during our independence anniversary. That clemency offer was disrupted that April Wednesday morning.
By the time of the riot, there were already telling signs that all was not right at Sierra Leone’s main facility housing men serving time for various offences. Overcrowding was frighteningly high at 400 percent as the officers’ report stated. The colonial era structure was built to hold 324 inmates but was by the month of the riot, having 1,300 men in custody, and the officers say they have to grapple with a 40 percent under strength ratio. And after one inmate was tested positive for corona, fears of wide spread infection grew within their ranks, further heightening tension.
Also the issue of inmates belonging to various opposing cliques and re-igniting their rivalries behind bars, also helped fuelled the already tense atmosphere at Pademba road jail. There were strong rumours of attempted jail break all over the place for the senior cadre of the Correctional Department to have acted upon by contacting other security sector operatives like the Police and ONS. That could have led to the beefing up of security personnel and the introduction of other counter measures. The threat could have been extinguished well before its actualization, and the violence and deaths could have been avoided or at least mitigated.
The general conduct of the Correctional Service officers has many a time attracted criticisms from either inmates or the public. Few hours after security forces had stormed Pademba road jail and put down the revolt, video footage circulated on social media, showing a death row inmate making damning allegations against the correctional officers, in the presence of security officers who apparently had been involved in the action that day. Evidently ruffled by the rather incriminating allegations made by the condemned prisoner, Correctional Service officers a few days later got the same fellow to deny on tape also, all the appalling things he had said about his custodians, admitting he was under duress and was assaulted as well. Psychologists watching the two videos would most certainly figure out the puzzle behind it all and would find the whole spectacle quite amusing indeed.
Prisons as the Correctional Services was named before, has been an institution with low ratings over the years and the change in name and the seeming portrayal of a new outlook as an institution, have done little to improve morale amongst officers. It is the least considered in terms of support and provision of facilities of all the security establishments. Some of us believe the relatively new name as Correctional Services is cosmetic and unfulfilling of an objective to improve the status and conditions of everything associated with the institution.
The Correctional Services is the least budgeted for as compared to the other security outfits like the Army and Police. The only decent living quarters for the Correctional services that I have seen is the one in Moyamba. The buildings at the New England, Freetown barracks are so dilapidated and could hardly pass as dwellings for men and women taking care of some of the most dangerous people in society. One could count by the fingertips the vehicles that they have and there are times handcuffed suspects had to walk to court because of lack of vehicle. What is all this talk about Human Rights then? And our Human Rights community says nothing about that. The other day when the ACC handcuffed and displayed people arrested for examination malpractice, they shouted all over the place. How are they different from those on remand trying to prove their innocence for whatever crime?
Many of the officers would tell you they only joined the Correctional Services because jobs are hard to come by and would readily dump the uniform if a better proposition came their way. Given the underlying problems, staff morale is bound to be always very low. In the post-war period, we have done so much to reform the police and the military, why are we neglecting the Correctional Service?
Though one could not in any way justify their actions, the trafficking of contraband items by officers into the Correctional facilities across the country has been a way of life for corrupt and demotivated officers, for years now. Inmates have disappeared in very suspicious circumstances and one cannot look beyond some demoralized officers who wouldn’t hesitate doing something for anything. What do they have to lose?
Lately, efforts have been made for greater inmate participation in skills training and other capacity building initiatives which it seemed was the focus on the minds of those doing the name change, but overcrowding and poor living conditions are lingering challenges that inmates face. A former inmate says what has noticeably improved since the present government came into office is the food but that congestion is still an unbearable condition. A jail is a jail but minimum conditions for basic human existence must exist.
Though it’s been claimed that the Pademba inmates were propelled into that deadly acts of violence that day by a social media audio, I want to believe the problems faced by officers and inmates alike had lingered like a festering wound for a longtime. And when the incarcerated men finally descended into violence they encountered minimal response from already dispirited and vulnerable officers.
To extinguish the threat of escape and violence at Pademba road jail, relocating some inmates to other jails in the provinces should be considered as a temporary measure. Government should also earnestly work towards building the proposed new jail in Songo, outside Freetown that would eventually see the closure of the main Freetown jail and the relocation of its inmates to the new site. Also the officers must be made to feel they are taken seriously by government; reasonably good housing, better logistics and a favorable working environment have to be made available.
Still in this 21st century, our country’s so called maximum detention complex hasn’t got CCTV that could have given the authorities a better idea about happenings within the precincts of the jail in the days leading up to the deadly riot.
Our Correctional Services must be given serious attention as they too contribute in maintaining peace by keeping watch over people who would otherwise turn society upside down.
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