An inmate of the FCT Vocational Rehabilitation Centre in Kuchiko-Ija, a border community between Bwari Area Council of the FCT and Tafa LGA of Niger State, has been reportedly tortured to death and his corpse dumped behind the centre.
A vigilante alleged that the victim was tortured to death by the officials of the centre.
City & Crime reports that the inmates of the centre are mostly destitute people arrested from Abuja City Centre over public nuisance.
Residents of the host community told our reporter that the centre was notorious for torturing inmates to the extent that many of them attempted to escape.
In the latest incident that led to the death of the victim, it was gathered that four inmates, including the deceased, attempted to escape from the centre last Friday over allegations of torture and starvation.
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 learnt that the remains of the deceased were deposited at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Hospital in Sabon-Wuse in Tafa LGA of Niger State, while one of the surviving victims was also admitted there.
Reacting, the Principal of the center, Bala Tsoho Musa, denied the allegation but admitted that six people escaped from the center last Friday and that there was no person that resembled the deceased among them.
It would be recalled that Musa was redeployed from the centre in 2021 following a Daily Trust’s story on the allegations of torture, extortion and starvation at the centre.
He was, however, recalled to the centre a few months later.
