Hungry Inmates Ordered To Kill Cats For Food In Maiduguri Maximum Prison

Reports from the Maiduguri Maximum Security Custodial Centre (MMSCC), Borno State, North-East, have revealed that inmates have been ordered to henceforth slaughter and eat any cats and kittens on the premises.

This platform gathered that on the evening of August 17, 2023, inmates in the centre were directed by the newly appointed Chief Warder, Deputy Superintendent Usman Bokko, to kill cats and kittens at their reach for consumption.

The directive, according to SaharaReporters, was given as a form of substitute for government-provided beef.

Sources within the centre reveal that the new chief warder said he was acting on “orders from above” as the provision of beef once a month by the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) was no longer sustainable due to the dire economic realities.

Some of the sources recounted how many cats and kittens were cruelly slaughtered and eaten by hungry inmates who had no problem consuming such.

Naija News learned that the presence of cats and kittens was much within the centre’s premises because, in 2020, cats were re-introduced to combat the large population of disease-carrying rats.

The sources further explained how most inmates who had bonded with some cats as pets were traumatised by the action.

The platform reports that when one of the traumatised inmates, Charles Okah, confronted the officer in charge of the Maiduguri Maximum Security Custodial Centre (MMSCC), Deputy Controller Aminu Abubakar Bappa, he denied knowledge of such a directive even though other sources said the slaughter was done right under his nose.

It was learnt that in the past when Boko Haram suspects were held in MMSCC, the Nigerian Army and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) provided beef to all the inmates in the facility once a week.

However, the immediate past officer in charge, Deputy Controller Mohammad Jibia (retd.), had reduced the consumption of beef to once a month. But after his departure, the provision of beef ceased completely, and the quality and quantity of the food given to inmates fell.

A development that has been blamed on the current hardship caused by the removal of fuel subsidy.

Reliable sources inside the NCoS told SaharaReporters that the agency had been struggling to feed thousands of inmates in its various custodial centres nationwide even though provision was made for their food in the budget.

Meanwhile, in October 2021, the Senate Committee on Interior increased the daily feeding allowance of the correctional service from its current N450 per person to a minimum of ₦1,000 per day.

Reacting to the development, a junior staff member of the centre who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Considering that a generous amount earmarked for each meal per inmate is never adhered to, and considering also that provisions are factored into food budgets to anticipate inflation, contingencies, unexpected increase in custodial facilities and kickbacks to senior officers that trickle down to those in charge of custodial centres, there isn’t a cogent reason why the inmates should feel the pinch.”

The officer said, but for very few buoyant inmates who have enough to feed themselves and some others who can afford to supplement the bad food, the majority are not finding it easy to feed.

However, succour seems to have shown up a week later, as the officer in charge, met with the Controller of the Borno State Command of the NCoS, who promised that the contractor would resume the supply of beef to the facility.

He also promised that the surviving cat and her kittens would be spared but dumped in a faraway bush to fend for themselves.