Controversial crossdresser, Idris Okuneye, aka Bobrisky, may face fresh criminal charges over claims that he served his jail term in a private apartment and bribed officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to drop money laundering charges against him.
A panel set up to investigate these claims has recommended that he should face defamation and criminal charges. Bobrisky was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment on April 12 for abusing the naira, and he was released from prison on August 5.
A few weeks after his release, controversial social critic, Martins Otse, aka VeryDarkMan, shared a voice note of a conversation purportedly between Bobrisky and another person, where the crossdresser allegedly stated that he bribed EFCC officers with N15 million to drop money laundering charges against him.
He also claimed to have bribed officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service to serve his six-month sentence in a private apartment.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, subsequently constituted an investigation panel, chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Magdalena Ajani, on September 30, to probe the claims.
The panel, while presenting its report, stated that there was no evidence that Bobrisky slept outside the Kirikiri Custodial Centre during his six-month sentence. The details of the report indicated that Bobrisky tarnished the image of the correctional service with false claims.
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The panel also asked the Department of State Services to investigate whether he bribed the EFCC or the correctional service, either directly or through a proxy. If the allegations of bribery are substantiated, the panel stated that he should be charged with corrupt practices.
“The Nigerian Correctional Service should file defamation suits against Bobrisky under sections 373-375 of the Criminal Code Act for his false claims about bypassing the prison system, tarnishing the institution’s reputation,” the report noted.
“The DSS should be requested to investigate whether Bobrisky, directly or through a proxy, bribed EFCC or NCoS officials. If substantiated, Bobrisky should face charges under the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act for bribing public officials,” the report partly read.
The panel also indicted four correctional officers who were recommended for disciplinary action, as outlined in the NCoS’s condition of service, civil service, and applicable laws.
One of those recommended for sanctions is a former Controller of Corrections, Ben Rabbi-Freeman, who was accused of “effecting the transfer of Okuneye Idris Olarenwaju without proper documentation of Form 5 and Form 5A from the Medium-Security Custody Centre to the Maximum-Security Custodial Centre on April 22, 2024, after over four months of the transfer date, and after the inmate had ended his imprisonment term; backdating the transfer documentation in relation to 1a and 1b above.”
He was also accused of “causing the in-charge Ikoyi Custodial Centre, in-charge Medium-Security Custodial Centre, and in-charge Maximum-Security Custodial Centre to sign backdated transfer documents in relation to Okuneye Idris Olarenwaju.”
In addition, the Deputy Controller of Corrections who was in charge of the Kirikiri Medium Security, Micheal Anugwa, was recommended for disciplinary action after claiming during a parliamentary inquiry that he had not been suspended despite an official order from the Minister of Interior.
He was indicted for receiving Bobrisky into the Medium Security Custodial Centre without the relevant documentation on April 12, 2024, and without the necessary transfer documentation.
The panel also pointed to “DCC Balogun Sikiru (retd) — formerly in-charge of Maximum Security Custodial Centre for receiving Bobrisky into the Maximum Security Custodial Centre without the relevant documentation on April 22, 2024, and without the necessary transfer documentation, and DCC Sikiru Kamoru Adekunle who was in charge of the Maximum Security Custodial Centre for backdating the transfer documentation in relation to receiving of Okuneye Idris into the Maximum Security Custodial Centre on April 22, 2024, which was a period he was yet to resume as the in-charge of the Maximum Security Custodial Centre.”
The panel further recommended an audit of all inmates and detainees in all custodial centres of the NCoS, their warrants, and other records, asking for a mechanism to sustain this as an effective oversight weekly.
It demanded the “decommercialisation of all welfare and support services to inmates with immediate effect and ensuring that adequate funding and oversight are put in place to ensure the continuation of these.”
This will also include building sustainable partnerships with civil society organisations, such as relevant NGOs and professional associations.
The report concluded by calling to “facilitate the effective implementation of non-custodial measures across the entire country to help reduce the number of people in custodial centres by utilising imprisonment only as a last resort.”
