PRISONS FOR SALE: AGBA JALINGO EXPOSES HOW INMATES BUY DRUGS, SEX, AND FREEDOM BEHIND BARS

Journalist details rot in Nigeria’s justice system, blasts NUJ silence as police turn “private militias of the rich”

Nigeria’s foremost activist-journalist, Agba Jalingo, has blown the lid off what he describes as the deep-rooted rot in the nation’s prison system, alleging that with the right amount of money, inmates can secure anything they desire – from cocaine and cellphones to sexual services and luxurious “special cells.”

Jalingo, publisher of CrossRiverWatch, made the shocking revelations on Arise TV’s Perspectives programme, where he featured alongside Media Room Hub publisher, Azuka Ogujiuba.

Ogujiuba had earlier recounted her ordeal with the police, narrating how she was tracked down in Abuja, her phone confiscated, and locked up in a foul-smelling, mosquito-infested cell for three days – all because of a published “court order.”

Reacting, Jalingo said her experience mirrored a broader pattern of police brutality and misuse of power under the current Inspector-General of Police.

> “The police are now private militias for the rich. If you have money and a journalist writes about you, just pay, and they will drag that journalist anywhere. Last year alone, 751 people were arrested over cybercrime allegations – the highest ever recorded,” he declared.

Jalingo, who has survived multiple arrests and detention stints, recounted how, under former Cross River Governor Ben Ayade, policemen abducted him from Lagos, stuffed him in the boot of a Toyota Highlander for a 26-hour journey, and left him to defecate on himself twice.

He was later dumped at the anti-cultism unit in Calabar for 43 days, before being thrown into prison for six months on trumped-up charges of terrorism, treason, and plotting to overthrow then-President Muhammadu Buhari.

Although acquitted, persecution continued. He was subsequently arraigned in Abuja under the controversial Section 24 of the Cybercrime Act – a law he insists was crafted to muzzle journalists and dissenters.

Inside Nigeria’s Prisons: “Nothing is Free”

Giving a grim insider’s account of prison life, Jalingo described a corrupt system where wealth determines survival.

> “There is no detention centre in Nigeria that you don’t pay. Bail is not free, prison visits are not free. Inmates with money live large. They have phones, drugs, everything they want. The only things I didn’t see were guns and human parts. Every other thing – including cocaine and sex – is available once you can pay,” he revealed.

According to him, prisons are “graded by wealth,” with privileged inmates buying comfort in “special cells,” while the poor languish in overcrowded, disease-ridden dungeons.

Ogujiuba, corroborating Jalingo’s claims, described her three-day detention as “a nightmare,” saying the filth and stench made it impossible to eat or sleep.

> “The cell was so dirty I could hardly breathe. Mosquitoes feasted on me until I almost ran mad,” she recounted.

Both journalists also took aim at the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), accusing it of betraying its mandate to defend press freedom.

> “Most union leaders become state agents the moment they get into office. They no longer fight for journalists. That is why the government and police continue to harass us with impunity,” Jalingo said.

The duo called for the abolition of criminal defamation laws and the Cybercrime Act, warning that politicians weaponise them to silence critics and intimidate journalists into submission.