Human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has recounted his experience inside the Kuje Correctional Centre, revealing that he was detained alongside inmates receiving treatment for tuberculosis.
Sowore made the disclosure in a statement on Wednesday, a day after he was granted ₦200 million bail by Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
According to the activist, he was held in an overcrowded prison facility with more than 1,158 inmates, including 37 prisoners undergoing treatment for tuberculosis.
“I was incarcerated alongside more than 1,158 inmates, including 37 undergoing treatment for tuberculosis,” he said.
Sowore described the conditions inside the correctional facility as overcrowded and maintained that no Nigerian should be imprisoned for exercising constitutionally guaranteed rights.
He said his previous encounters with detention made it easier for him to adapt to life behind bars, but insisted that such experiences should never become normal.
“Prison is not new to me, which was why I quickly settled into prison life.
“But the truth remains that no one should spend even a minute behind bars for an offence unknown to law or for exercising constitutionally protected rights,” he added.
Sowore was remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre after the court revoked his earlier bail in the ongoing case filed against him by the Department of State Services (DSS). He regained his freedom on Tuesday after meeting the new bail conditions ordered by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
