Ibadan — NO fewer than 13 inmates of the Agodi Prisons, Ibadan laid dead, yesterday, after the police opened fire on rioting prisoners as they made to break jail. Fourteen other inmates and eight prison officials were seriously injured in the violence.

The prisons authorities confirmed eight deaths. They said the victims were awaiting trial.

The inmates were said to be protesting alleged poor medical facilities in the prisons.

Trouble started at about 6 a.m when prison officials went to the Awaiting Trial Cell to take the routine head count of the suspects. As soon as they opened the gate, the inmates descended on the prison officials. The confrontation was allegedly led by a suspect nicknamed "Sanponna".

The protesting inmates then proceeded to the kitchen and seized every weapon in sight to arm themselves. Afterwards, they headed for another cell where they broke the iron gate to free the inmates to support them. They later went to the female yard.

Meanwhile, some other warders who tried to resist the jail break were stabbed in the process.

The police were then called in to save the day. They succeeded, but killed some of the inmates.

The prison yard was littered with spent tear-gas canisters, knives, plates, padlocks, drugs, and blood stain.

At the far end of the prison was a hole in the fence drilled by the protesting prisoners for their escape.

Armed mobile policemen stood there on guard. Some of the roads around the prisons were also cordoned off.

Sources at the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan said 11 bodies had been deposited at the mortuary.

Newsmen who rushed to the prison were initially denied entry by the state Comptroller of Prisons, Mrs. Maureen Omeihi. In fact, at some point, prison officials pounced on a reporter from The Tribune, Mr. Tope Abiola, beating and pushing him out of the premises.

After much persuasion, Mrs. Omeili agreed to speak with newsmen. She said: "One of the inmates was sick over the weekend and was taken to hospital. The inmates probably thought he was dead and they started rioting. Meanwhile, the inmate is alive. He is very much alive now and responding to treatment.. They started rioting this morning (yesterday) around 7.00.am. We lost eight of the inmates while 14 of them were injured. Four of my staff were injured due to stray bullet wounds but they have all been taken to the UCH for treatment. The dead ones have been evacuated to the mortuary.

"The protesting inmates broke into the store and tailoring workshop to cart away knives and scissors which they used to attack the staff. We are using the knives to cook food for them.

"Most of the drugs we use in treating the inmates were destroyed. We have doctors, nurses, psychologists and all other medical people who come to treat them. They broke into the Clinic, laid their hands on all the drugs and scattered them. It was probably because of the protest that brought out all the drugs, because aside from that, I don't see why they should bring out the drugs being used to treat them and scatter them all over."

On allegations of poor medical treatment and poor feeding, she said: "It is not true. They are well fed. Look at the bags of foodstuff they scattered in the kitchen. And we take adequate care of their health. The drugs they scattered there are the ones we use for them. We thank God that none of them escaped. My men are up to the task."

Another prison official, Mr. Olanrele Joseph, Deputy Comptroller in Charge, when conducting journalists round the premises said: "They broke into the carpentry workshop and the close circuit television installed by the prison authorities was destroyed. We use it to monitor what is going on in the cells right from the office. All the equipment in the clinic, kitchen, store and tailor's workshop were destroyed. Bags of beans were torn and gallons of palm oil broken. Look at the knives they took from the kitchen.

"When the trouble could not be managed by the warders, they invited the policemen to help them put the inmates at bay," he said.

Vanguard gathered that the inmates had been complaining of poor medical attention to the prison authorities in the last two weeks, but nothing was done to address the problem. At the time of filing this report, a green ambulance bus was driven into the premises after all journalists had been ordered to leave.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ekpoudom Udom, who was at the prison to assess the situation said: "The prison authorities called us on time and we responded. Though the inmates drilled holes with the aim of escaping, none of them escaped. If they had escaped, the police and the prison authorities would have been in trouble."

Agodi Prisons built for 500 inmates has 680 prisoners. Six hundred and nineteen are awaiting trial while 61 are convicts.