A Federal Government panel constituted to probe bribery allegations regarding controversial crossdresser Idris Okuneye, widely known as Bobrisky, says the social media sensation served his six-month jail term in prison but he enjoyed several privileges.
A member of the panel, Uju Agomoh, who read the initial report of the probe at the Ministry of Interior on Monday, said the panel “did not find any evidence thus far that suggested that Mr Okuneye slept outside the custodial centre during the period of his imprisonment, which was from 12th April 2024 to the 5th August 2024, which is a six-month correctional sentence with the usual remission applicable”.
Agomoh said during this period, Bobrisky was moved from the Kuje Custodial Centre to the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kirikiri-Apapa, Lagos; and then to the Maximum Security Custodial Centre, from where the crossdresser was discharged after completion of her sentence.
The panel said the cross-dresser’s transfer to a maximum security facility as a first offender violated Section 164A and Section 164B of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act of 2019.
“The panel also found that Mr. Okuneye Idris enjoyed several privileges while in custody, both at the Medium Security and the Maximum Security Custodial Centres, which include, especially the following: furnished single cells, humidifier, lots of visits by his family members and friends as he desired, self-feeding, designated inmates to run errands for him, access to fridge and television, and possibly access to his phone,” Agomoh said.
“The panel recommends that clear guidelines need to be set up to guide operations regarding such incidents in future.
“Steps should be taken to avoid the obvious discriminatory practices in relation to the socio-economic levels and other status of inmates.”
A blogger, Martins Otse, known as VeryDarkMan, had alleged in viral videos that some officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) collected ₦15 million from Bobrisky during his naira spraying ordeal in April for the anti-graft agency to drop money laundering charges against him. After that, a court sentenced him to six months imprisonment in April 2024. The cross-dresser was released in August.
The blogger also alleged that Bobrisky paid some millions of naira to secure a choice place in prison.
Bobrisky has since denied the allegations while the EFCC and the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) had ordered investigations into the allegations by the blogger. The House of Representatives also waded in and invited those involved for a probe while the Federal Government suspended some NCoS senior officers.
On September 30, 2024, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, inaugurated a committee to probe allegations of gross misconduct against the NCoS.
The minister gave the committee two weeks to deliver its report and charged the panel members “to investigate specific allegations of corruption, torture, and mistreatment of inmates by correctional officers, especially the immediate one on Bobrisky which I expect to be out in 2 weeks”.
“Nobody will be shielded. Nobody, no matter how highly placed, will be shielded,” the minister had said.