Inmate tortured to death in rehab centre

An inmate at the FCT Vocational Rehabilitation Centre in Kuchiko-Ija, a border village between the FCT’s Bwari Area Council and Niger State’s Tafa LGA, was reportedly tortured to death and his body left behind the centre.

A vigilante claimed that authorities at the institution tortured the man to death.

According to City & Crime, the centre’s occupants are largely destitute persons who were detained in Abuja for public annoyance.

Residents of the host village informed reporters that the centre was renowned for torturing inmates, to the point where several attempted to escape.

In the most recent episode that resulted in the victim’s death, four detainees, including the deceased, attempted to flee the institution last Friday, citing charges of abuse and malnutrition.

A source said, “The victim and one other person were arrested and repatriated by the security guards while attempting to jump over the fence of the centre. The victim, who was seriously beaten with sticks, gave up afterwards and his remains were dumped nearby.

“Two escaped inmates brought the information to us.’’

It was further revealed that the deceased’s bodies were deposited at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Hospital in Sabon-Wuse, Tafa LGA, Niger State, while one of the surviving victims was also admitted there.

Bala Tsoho Musa, the centre’s principal, responded by denying the claim but admitting that six people escaped from the centre last Friday; none of them resembled the deceased.

Musa was redeployed from the centre in 2021 following a Daily Trust investigation about allegations of torture, extortion, and hunger at the facility.

He was, however, summoned to the centre a few months later.

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