Sad! The Child-Inmates Of Badagry: Sick, Hungry, Weak, Dying And Crying Children. Scratching Private Parts Without Any Form Of Embarrassment.

A recent visit by Lagos State Chief Judge, Justice Funmilayo Atilade to Badagry prison revealed an unimaginable condition in which underaged inmates live.

TO any visitor, the exterior of the Badagry Prison complex located at the beachfront of the historic Badagry town looks deserted and without any activity — a false impression, given the number of inmates inside.
It has the same features as most prisons in Nigeria – heavy green gates, high walls, heavily armed security personnel and a vast army of eagle-eyed prison wardens who go through the daily motions of receiving new inmates and also ensuring that inmates serve their time. But it is a house of horror as any visitor would find out.

Held deep in the dingy cells of the prison among convicted murderers armed robbers, rapists and the likes, are also children and teenagers serving sentences for various offences ranging from petty theft to wandering and even street hawking. The horror within the Badagry prison cells is better imagined.

When the Lagos State Chief Judge, Honorable Justice Funmilayo Atilade decided to visit the prison hoping to set free 28 under-aged inmates, little did she prepare for the spectacle she was confronted with – hundreds of hungry and unkempt children, displaying varying stages of diseases and neglect.

The children and teenagers clad in oversized green and blue prison garments were seated on wooden benches in the prison chapel, hoping for a possible stroke of luck or divine intervention that could secure them freedom.

The air was heavy with the smell of disinfectant, but it could not hide the odour of unwashed bodies, packed so tightly that it made one’s stomach churn.

The children, especially, were sick, hungry, weak, dying and crying.

The expressions in their eyes were the same. They wanted to go home. They wanted their parents.

While they waited for their names to be called, their hands went unconsciously into their oversized trousers, scratching their private parts without any form of embarrassment.


Their movements seemed choreographed. They all had places to scratch with their skin turning ghostly white from constant scratching.

Signs of chicken pox, ringworm, scabies, possibly leprosy and a host of undiagnosed skin could be seen all over their skins. There were some with open sores oozing thick and yellow pus. There were others with open bullet wounds. Some also have had their legs amputated legs. All were expectant and hopeful for freedom.


At the back of the prison chapel was a boy not less than 13 years old, suffering from stroke. According to his friend who brought him, he was physically fit, but had become sick, more or less a vegetable, depending on others for survival.


Excerpt as reported by AYOMIDE OWONIBI ODEKANYIN

Tribune