“They Want My Husband Killed” — Wife of Lagos correctional centre inmate alleges

By Chidiebele Obika | I-Witness News

Mrs. Nkechi Okpala, wife of an inmate at the Ikoyi Medium Security Custodial Centre, has raised alarm over alleged attempts by officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service to endanger her husband’s life by denying him medical care and secretly transferring him to the New Abeokuta Correctional Centre in Ogun State, despite subsisting court orders mandating his treatment.

According to an affidavit sighted by this reporter, Mrs. Okpala stated that her husband, Mr. Okpala—whom she has been married to for over 25 years—is in critical condition and suffers from multiple severe medical ailments previously managed by his doctors.

She explained that the Court of Appeal had directed that he continue treatment at the hospital where he had been receiving specialist care. However, due to what she described as wilful disobedience of the appeal court order by the Lagos State Command under Controller George Daramola, the family approached the Federal High Court to enforce his fundamental human rights. Justice Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court also ruled that the inmate must be granted access to his physicians.

Alleged Stoppage of Treatment and Forced Transfer

Mrs. Okpala alleged that after Controller George Daramola was posted to Lagos in 2023, he ordered the Matron of the Kirikiri Medium Security Custodial Centre clinic to remove her husband’s drip and transfer him to the Maximum Security Custodial Centre, effectively stopping his treatment for months.

She further claimed that Deputy Controller of Corrections, Mr. Gbenga Alagbe, officer in charge of the Kirikiri Maximum facility, worked with others to disrupt the treatment. According to her, it took the intervention of inmates in Block 2—who confronted the officer after witnessing several incidents of Mr. Okpala slumping in the bathroom—for him to be rushed to Navy Town Reference Hospital, Ojo, where he was admitted.

Despite this emergency, she alleged that Controller Daramola insisted she must continue giving them money, threatening that her husband would be removed from Block 2 and pushed into the general cell “where he may not survive.”
She added that her husband’s scheduled appointment at the National Orthopedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, was also blocked after the family told the controller they could no longer meet his financial demands.

Alleged Forced Removal From Hospital

Mrs. Okpala further accused Squadron Leader U. Udoh William, Akinremi Lanre, and an officer identified as Mr. Muhammed of repeatedly removing her husband from the hospital against medical advice.
She claimed they once removed his drip and attempted to take him away from his hospital bed, and when confronted by hospital management, they said they were acting on orders from the Controller and the officer in charge.

According to her, she has videos and photographs documenting these incidents.

She said the matter was reported to the Inspector-General of Police on 13 March 2025, but the officers boasted that nothing would come out of the investigation because their colleague, a Deputy Controller serving as adviser to the Minister of Interior, would ensure the case was “swept under the carpet.”

She alleged that on 15 September 2025, a team led by then Assistant Comptroller-General of Corrections, Ope Fatinikun; Lagos Command Controller, George Daramola; Deputy Controller Gbenga Alagbe; Chief Superintendent Udoh William of the Arms Squad; a squadron leader; and about 18 masked armed men invaded the hospital and whisked the sick inmate into an awaiting vehicle.
Police officers from the Rapid Response Squad and the Area G Anti-Robbery team reportedly confronted the correctional officers, but the inmate was still taken to the Alagbon Close office of ACG Fatinikun and Controller Daramola.

Torture and Coercion Allegations

Mrs. Okpala alleged that her husband was tortured at Alagbon and later handed over to Mr. Julius Ogueri, Deputy Controller and officer in charge of Ikoyi Custodial Centre, where he was kept as a “lodger” under the guise of investigation—all aimed, she said, at intimidating the family into paying more money.

She claimed her husband was detained at the Ikoyi facility from 15 September without treatment. When officers were eventually directed to take him to the hospital, they allegedly ignored medical advice and instead warned him to withdraw all court cases and petitions against senior correctional officials or face death.
She said they threatened to suffocate him and rely on the Ikoyi clinic doctor, Dr. Aluko, “to prepare a cover-up report.”

Alleged Defiance of Court Orders

Despite several letters from the hospital and repeated requests from his lawyers urging officers to obey the Court of Appeal and Federal High Court orders, the inmate was allegedly denied access to his doctors.
Mrs. Okpala claimed that Dr. Aluko repeatedly refused to sign referral documents.

“On 2 December 2025, Dr. Aluko refused to sign my husband’s referral, saying the judge who gave the order should come and take him to the hospital himself. ‘He will die here like others,’ he said,” she alleged.

Transfer to Abeokuta Despite His Critical Condition

Mrs. Okpala lamented that on 3 December 2025, instead of being taken to the hospital as indicated, her husband was transferred to the New Abeokuta Correctional Centre, Oba— a maximum-security facility where inmates on IDR are usually kept.

According to her, he has no access to his doctors or family, and has been surviving only on fruits, which are the only items officers allow into the facility.

She also claimed that Controller Daramola previously extorted about ₦7,000,000 from her husband in exchange for medical access and placement in Block 2 at the Maximum Security facility, and that the harassment intensified when he could no longer meet the controller’s alleged financial demands. She said Daramola reportedly claimed he was nearing retirement and “needed to arrange himself.”

Call for Urgent Intervention

Mrs. Okpala is calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, the Inspector-General of Police, and human rights organizations to urgently intervene and save her husband’s life.

She said the family has written to the Ogun State Controller of Corrections, the officer in charge of the New Abeokuta facility, and ACG Zone A, Lagos, but has received no response.

“We are afraid of losing him,” she said. “The situation is getting worse, and there are signs they may move him to another unknown destination. We have written through our lawyers to all relevant authorities, yet no one has questioned these officers. A lot will be revealed about the Lagos Corrections Command under George Daramola.”