Bobrisky still in Ikoyi Prison, officials debunk rumors of transfer to Kirikiri

• Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) denies reports of popular social media personality Bobrisky’s transfer to Kirikiri Prison.
• Bobrisky, sentenced to six months for abusing naira notes, remains at Ikoyi Custodial Center.
• NCoS clarifies that Bobrisky’s offense does not warrant transfer to a maximum-security facility (Kirikiri).

The Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) has refuted circulating reports suggesting that popular social media personality, Bobrisky, was transferred from Ikoyi Custodial Center to Kirikiri Maximum Prison in Lagos State.

Bobrisky, who recently received a six-month prison sentence for allegedly abusing naira notes, was rumored to have been moved quietly to Kirikiri Prison over the past weekend to serve the remainder of his term.

However, an official from the NCoS, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to protocol restrictions, informed PUNCH Metro on Thursday that Bobrisky remains detained at the Ikoyi prison.

The anonymous official clarified that Bobrisky’s offense did not fall under capital crimes, which typically mandate transfer to a maximum-security prison where inmates serving life or death sentences are housed.

“Bobrisky has not been moved, he is still here in Ikoyi. He was not sentenced to death and didn’t get a life sentence either. Those people sentenced to death and given life sentences are mostly kept in the maximum prison.”

“That is mostly based on capital punishment. As for Bobrisky, he didn’t commit a capital offence, so why would they take him to Kirikiri,” the source stated.

Another anonymous official mentioned that discussions about transferring some inmates between custodial centers in the state due to congestion were underway but emphasized that no such transfers had occurred yet.

“Sometimes, when we discover that the population of inmates is much in a facility, we decide to move them just to decongest. We are only considering that at the moment and not that anyone has been moved.

“If the prison authorities want to move, they have the right. We also do so if the person has a communicable disease or because the inmate requested it for proximity to the family or an appeal on humanitarian grounds.

“The leadership might also say, ‘Let’s spread those who have less than one year sentence’, which may apply to Bobrisky, just to create space for those awaiting trial. But such people rarely go to the maximum prison,” the source disclosed.