PDP National Secretary, Olisa Metuh, who is currently in prison pending the time he is going to meet his bails terms was on Tuesday brought to court in handcuffs. This caused a lot of noise as his party members weren’t cool with it.
Following this action, Nigeria Prisons Service has come out to address the issue by giving reasons for handcuffing him.
NPS spokesman, Francis Enobore, told Punch that the officer in charge of the escort that took Metuh to court was at liberty to determine if the inmate should be handcuffed.
Enobore noted that Metuh was not maltreated in any way, stressing that handcuffing an inmate was a standard procedure.
He said, “Handcuffing an inmate is at the discretion of the officer in-charge, depending on the security situation, the environment and intelligence report available to the officer. Sometimes they look at the atmosphere and take the necessary decision.
“If you suspect that the atmosphere, security-wise, may not be conducive to the inmates in your custody, you can use handcuffs; to avoid a situation where you have to start telling stories, you use your discretion to study the environment and take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the inmates in your custody.
“Remember that we not only try to secure the inmate from escaping, we equally provide protection for the inmate. The officer in-charge must ensure that the life of the inmate is not jeopardized. It is the officer in-charge of the escort that studies the security environment and takes the decision to use handcuffs.”