Incarcerating a child with the mother only creates a new generation of criminals'Nigerian Prisons authorities insist that female prisoners in Kirikiri, Lagos, are well treated and even luckier than their counterparts in other prisons in the country for having an entire facility to themselves. But the Kirikiri female prisoners say they are not aware of the 'amenities' the authorities are talking about. ABIMBOLA THOMAS spoke to the two parties - the female prisoners and the authorities.The female prisoners' ordeal story started from yesterday.A PRACTISING psychologist, Dr. Robinson Okosun believes that the act of incarcerating a child with the mother only creates a new generation of criminals. While he agrees that the intention of not wanting to separate a mother and child is good, the effect though is far from good because this creates a taint that will affect the child for life.He said: 'When the child grows up, it will affect his self esteem. His identity will be distorted by the fact that he has had a taste of prison especially if he was born while the mother was there. His friends in school will tease him about it and he will want to question what led the mother to prison. Nightmares might begin and he will have problems mixing with his peers. Even if he is intelligent, his dignity is robbed to an extent and his work rate will be affected.'Okosun, who has a Doctorate Degree in Psychology from the University of Ibadan further stresses that the child's performance in life's affairs will be faced with several mental challenges, which will lead to something similar to a split personality with positive and negative sides. If not well managed, a confused thinking emerges and stress levels heighten in him.A bid to escape this confusion could push this individual to criminal elements. Traits like drinking, drug abuse and heavy smoking could emerge. As he matures, a need for therapy to reintegrate him into society is needful. 'A comment by a friend could knock back a process that took a long time to build. Wayward people will welcome him and before you know it, we'll see a new generation of a human being pushed to criminal behaviour from the troubles that arose in the mind by being born in prison. While the intentions are genuine for not wanting to separate a mother and child, the resultant effect can be disastrous. I will say that women in pregnancy or with children should be punished in other ways rather that incarceration with the child. If the offense is so terrible that no alternative can be sought, then, the child should be taken from the woman. Children in prison should be seriously discouraged, the psychological implications can be very harmful,' he said.Prisons official's reactionTHE Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Nigeria Prisons Service in Lagos, Chuks Njoku agrees that Nigerian prisons like prisons elsewhere in the world are not five-star hotels, but he will not also agree with the prisoner's description of the Kirikiri Female Prisons.The middle-aged prisons officer said it is impossible for the prisons warden not to take an inmate awaiting trial to court because there was no fuel in the car.Njoku said emphatically that the government provides fuel for the vehicles to go to court almost on a daily basis. 'A woman in that condition will not go to court because of fuel' That's impossible. The next thing is for the court to issue a summons for us to appear and explain,' he exclaimed.Njoku however admits that the Kirikiri Prisons has only one vehicle for its every day use as the other one is grounded in need of mechanical repairs (as at May when this interview was held).On medical care for pregnant women, nursing mothers and infants in prison, the PRO again disagrees with the claims of the inmates and the warden's account. Njoku says that the prisons system has several doctors in its employment who draw up a dietary chart for pregnant women and nursing mothers and this is what they are fed on.Surprisingly, two different wardens with years of experience between them that The Guardian spoke with have no idea of this special arrangement.The PRO's response to the issue of condemned prisoners and nursing mothers living in the same cell was an invitation for The Guardian to come into the prison to see the facilities such as a day care centre, a nursery and a special cell for nursing mothers.Like the special diet for the kids, the wardens and the women involved do not know of the existence of such facilities and so cannot take advantage of them.The PRO blames the effects of imprisonment on the psyche of the inmates which could justify the inaccurate information The Guardian was presented with. But the wardens' account was at variance with this official position.'Down Under' offers the best bargain for pregnant prisoners and jailed infantsOnline research by The Guardian reveals that the conditions of pregnant prisoners and babies in jail are not better elsewhere in the world except in Australia.IF jail-bound pregnant women, the unborn child, infants, and even their husbands were given a chance to chose where they would serve their jail terms, they would definitely chose Australia, a country many would not love to visit because it is far from any part of the world.In Australia, there is a special prison for pregnant women. Here they are assigned to a unit, which has two bedrooms, a kitchen and all the amenities they need to be comfortable.Husbands are allowed to visit. They could stay during childbirth and stay the night and over weekends.Swedish prisons and other Scandinavian countries also give special treatment to pregnant women in jail.In Argentina, pregnant women, women with children younger than five and those with handicapped children spend their prison term at home under house arrest.In the United States (U.S.), the conditions of pregnant women in jail puts a big question mark on the integrity of a country that prides itself as the land of human rights, freedom and liberty, according to the National Women's Law Centre and the Rebecca Project for Human Rights report on 'Mothers Behind Bars' on the treatment of pregnant and parenting women in U.S. prisons.There are currently more women behind bars than ever before in the U.S. Most of them are non-violent, first-time offenders. They are also mothers. Two-thirds of women in prisons have at least one child under age 18. The report graded states based on their policies in three key areas: Prenatal care, shackling of pregnant women, and family-based treatment programmes as an alternative to incarceration. Overall, 21 states received failing grades. Another 22 states earned C-. Only Pennsylvania got an A-.In neighbouring Canada, human rights organisations recently described the act of shackling women who are in labour and giving birth as positively medieval, and exceptionally cruel. Canadian Tina Reynolds, a mother and formerly incarcerated woman gave birth to her son while in 558/59 prisons for a parole violation:'When I went into labour, my water broke. The van came to pick me up, I was shackled. Once I was in the van, I was handcuffed. I was taken to the hospital. The handcuffs were taken off, but the shackles weren't. I walked to the wheelchair that they brought over to me and I sat in the wheelchair with shackles on me. They re-handcuffed me once I was in the wheelchair and took me up to the floor where women had their children.'When I got there, I was handcuffed with one hand. At the last minute, before I gave birth, I was unshackled so that my feet were free. After I gave birth to him, the shackles went back on and the handcuffs stayed on while I held my son on my chest.'Prison condition is not better in Britain. Between 2005 and 2008, 283 babies were born in British prisons. Some mothers recall going into labour at night, to the sound of fighting. Many babies were delivered through emergency caesarean; many were born with prison officers in the doorway, in uniform, looking on. One factor which seriously compromises the standard of antenatal care in Britain is worker shortages. For example, there is shortage of prison officers to accompany prisoners to ultrasound scans and other external appointments. These appointments often have to be cancelled and rescheduled. Also near-term pregnant prisoners are forced to travel hundreds of miles in claustrophobic prison vans known to inmates as 'sweatboxes' according to reports by The Guardian of London.Fact Box12 Abnormalities that are the norm in Kirikiri Female PrisonsEighty per cent of inmates are technically not supposed to be prisoners as their cases are awaiting trial;The pregnant women of Kirikiri Prisons do not get special dietary consideration;The children in prisons because of their mothers' crime do not have a place in food arrangements;The ante-natal and post-natal facilities are next to non-existent;Wardens are not given specialised training to handle inmates that need special attention. The only qualification for the job is that they are women caring for women;All inmates interact in an open space and are separated by cells at night. They can decide to sleep in each other's cells;Government does not perform its role of meeting the daily needs of prisoners; missionary bodies, charity groups and NGO perform these functions;Inmates in the female prisons hardly ever have visitors;Most women inmates are in prison for crimes committed by husbands and relations;Female inmates are not separated by the degree of the offence into minimum, medium and maximum prisons;Most inmates don't take advantage of skill acquisition centre at the prison that will prepare them for life after jail; andPsychological torture and abuse by wardens are commonplace especially of women in labour and those involved in fights, but if they are rich and generous, a warden can be their best friend.Reporter's Diary: On the trail of women and children in jailAN incidental viewing of Cable News Network (CNN) Back Story promo of the plight of children and pregnant mothers in South African prisons triggered my interest.Near term at the time, I could not cope with the rigour an investigation that will do justice to the story would entail. An eventually stillbirth was the impelling factor. The moment I was fully recovered, the desire to investigate what women in less than ideal circumstances go through in Nigerian prisons seemed natural.I shared the idea with my supervising editor who agreed that we should look at the plight of pregnant women and children in Nigerian prisons.My first contact was with a charity organisation involved in the Prison Ministry. They brought forth disturbing allegations of wardens prostituting prisoners. Thankfully, this allegation proved baseless (at least at Kirikiri Female Prisons that I visited) but other issues mentioned in the story are likewise bothersome.Attempts to gain entry to the prisons through the establishment proved unproductive and so I went in as a member of a Christian fellowship group. Initially, I was just another missionary. Subsequently, I made my intentions known to the wardens and they initially resisted the idea of a member of the press interacting and asking questions from the inmates. Based on the cordial relationship between the officials and the group I went with, permission was finally granted on the condition that my questions would be pre-examined and a welfare person would be present at every interview.Societal factors ensured that most of the women who agreed to speak would do so only if their identities where concealed, except Joy and Titi who were ready to share their names. The same thing went for the wardens for the purpose of job security.Despite the harsh condition in which they are kept, a top prisons official believes that female inmates in Lagos are lucky to have a whole prison to themselves unlike other states where sexes are separated by cells and wings. It does not diminish the fact that in other climes, prisoners are separated by degrees which give rise to the minimum, medium and maximum prisons. Yet, the system wonders why there is a vicious circle with the prison hardly ever successfully reforming anyone with some individuals coming out more skilled in criminal acts'Another concern is the culture of imprisoning a mother for years when the husband who committed the crime had absconded. Little thought is given to the innocent children that the women leaves behind. These children could become the criminals of tomorrow without any parental supervision.As can be expected in a prison of close to 200 inmates with all sorts of people represented, The Guardian did not miss its fair share of abuse in the process of putting this piece together but most memorable was a lady called Chidinma. The officer on duty advised against talking to her but the lure of the tall, fair complexioned lady with her good-looking, equally fair complexioned son on her hip was too hard to resist. The Guardian approached her but before introduction was completed, she sharply and rudely retorted: 'What do you want from me' Abeg, I don't want to talk to anybody. Please, leave me alone or is it by force'' With the egg fresh on my face, the warden explained that the lady is somewhat stubborn which was why she carefully picks inmates who would be more receptive for interviews.The rain was sometimes a major challenge because some visits had to be suspended when it was too heavy and others had to be attended when the showers were light enough. The inmates appeared to appreciate braving the weather to visit because they never forgot to ask for special blessings from us during chilly temperatures.After speaking to the PRO, The Guardian was told by the lady in charge of the Prisons Ministry which took The Guardian in that they had been given a tough time the next time they went on a visit. This happened to be the first time in over eight weeks that The Guardian had not gone with them. A source high up in the prisons service also called to let The Guardian know that publishing the story might lead to the wardens who granted access to the inmates being sacked.The Guardian sincerely hopes this will not happen. Those ladies are not just wardens but are like family to some of the inmates whose families have rejected them. They would go so far as organising naming ceremonies for the inmates' babies at their own expense. To punish such women for a failure that is essentially the system's would be just wrong.An officer that could have granted The Guardian official entry had made inflexible travel arrangements. Why then should prison officers on duty be punished'As nice as they were, photographs where strictly forbidden for security reasons. Even without pictures, one hopes that this story will move the powers that be to look into the plight of prisoners, not just women and children, but prisoners generally especially the countless awaiting trial inmates who waste years of their lives, and of course the prison warders who are given little incentives.
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