The Nigerian Correctional Service Delta State Command, has refuted allegations circulating on social media that its officers release inmates for “Omila operations,” a term suggestive of robbery activities in the state.
The rumours claim that officers at Okere Prison allegedly release inmates for criminal activities and later return them to the facility.
However, the Command has dismissed these allegations as baseless and unfounded.
In a statement released on Tuesday in Asaba by the Delta State Command’s Public Relations Officer, SC Allen ILoba, the NCoS described the report as a fabrication aimed at tarnishing the image of the institution.
The statement read, “The attention of The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Delta State Command has been drawn to a purported online report with the above caption by an unreliable source ‘Warri Aproko II’, alleging that officers of the NCoS released inmates from the Medium Security Custodial Centres Warri to go for ‘Omila operation’ (suggestive of Robbery Operation) and thereafter return them to the facility.
“The Command wishes to emphatically submit that this report making rounds on social media is false, unpatriotic, and a vile figment of the imagination of the writer in its entirety, as it is fabricated to truncate the existing peace in Warri and maliciously drag the name of this reputable institution (NCoS) in the mud.
“For the avoidance of doubt, no inmate on Death Row under any guise is allowed to get close to the gate lodge, talk much of going out for robbery operation.
“Apparently, the writer is utterly ignorant of the modus operandi of the NCoS. Hence, the malicious report was intended to mislead the general public. Warri Aproko has no office/email address or phone number(s), only a faceless Facebook account where unconfirmed stories are posted.”
The NCoS Delta State Command called on media outlets to verify their information before publishing, emphasizing the dedication of its officers to justice and the rehabilitation, reformation, and reintegration of inmates at the end of their sentences.
