THIS may sound far-fetched but  all considered, possible. In time to come, the poor, hungry and less-privileged segment of the society who are not criminally-minded, particularly those residing within the metropolitan city of Onitsha, Anambra State may volunteer to serve various jail terms in the Onitsha prison yard.

This is because the Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha Ecclesiatical Province, His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Valerian Okeke has joined some humanitarian groups and individuals in almost turning the prison yard into a conducive relaxation center through his frequent pastoral visits to the inmates. And the outcome of this? Jail break or attempted jail break has since become a thing of the past.

Archbishop Okeke had for the past four or five years visited the prison yard at least three times annually, including Christmas days, Easter and his birthdays to celebrate mass with them.
In each of the occasions, the Archbishop would go with a large quantity of cooked food, meat, pastries,  toiletries and raw food items with a live cow to celebrate his mass, after which he would hand them over to the prison authorities for onward distribution to the inmates, reminiscent of how Jesus Christ fed the multitude in the desert during His days on earth.

While handing over the consumables, both raw and cooked, Archbishop Okeke would also announce a cash donation for certain projects or for procurement of certain items that would be of immense benefit to the inmates.

For instance, Okeke had taken up water bore-hole projects in the prison yard, both sinking of new ones and rehabilitation of existing ones to ensure that water is always available for the inmates. He had equally taken up building projects, provided sewing machines for the artisans and even installed cable facilities for their relaxation.

On each visit, particularly during his annual birthdays, Okeke would invite his friends and well-wishers, even the sitting governors, local government chairmen and legislators who are favourably disposed to join him in the prison to celebrate his birthday for the year and in many cases, such invitees, after seeing him donate generously to the prison, would be compelled to also make their own donation or even take up one project or the other, which explained why the Onitsha prison is currently adjudged as the best in Nigeria.

His most recent visit to the prisons was on Easter Sunday, April 20 and he was accompanied by the state governor, Chief Willie Obiano. In his homily at the well-attended special mass, Archbishop Okeke, who preached peace and love among the people, enjoined the prisoners to always see their confinement as a necessary experience for their transformation.

The Archbishop who noted that he voluntarily chose to visit Onitsha prison thrice a year, said that virtually all humanity are prisoners, adding that any prisoner must know that he had already been set free by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He expressed joy that in less than two months after he was sworn-in as the Governor of Anambra State, Chief Obiano had come to worship and identify with the inmates of Onitsha Prison, an action which he said was significant of great things that would happen in Onitsha prison.

The Archbishop stressed the need for Christians to always bear in mind the reason for celebration of Easter which is the resurrection of Christ after his death on the cross, pointing out that if Christ died and did not resurrect, we should not have been worshipping and celebrating Him.

He said that “when Christ died, we died with Him and when He rose from death, we also rose with Him”, adding: “Those who crucified Christ thought that was His end but that death actually became His beginning”.

In his remarks, Governor Obiano disclosed that the state government is to review the cases of all the Awaiting Trials, ATM, Inmates of the Onitsha prison, with a view to freeing those who are not supposed to remain in the custody.

Obiano who stressed that the need to review their cases cannot be over-emphasized because most of them had spent over seven years as ATM inmates, expressed concern that out of a total of 892 inmates currently in Onitsha prison, only 85 of them are convicts, while others are still awaiting trial, adding that it is even possible that some of them are innocent of the crimes they were accused to have committed.

He therefore noted that after the review of their individual cases, those found not to be culpable would be freed to decongest the prison, while those criminals who are outside the prison custody would be arrested and sent to the prison to replace the perceived innocent ones, now that his administration has declared a total war against criminals in the state.

In his vote of thanks, the Deputy Controller of prisons in charge of Onitsha, Mr Azuka Ndupu expressed gratitude to the governor and the Archbishop for their concern to Onitsha prisons. Ndupu told the Governor that Onitsha prison was highly overcrowded, pointing out that the prison which was meant for about 300 inmates, now has 892 inmates.
He therefore appealed to the Governor to assist the prisons with schools for the inmates where they could receive formal education and some bags of cement to plaster and reinforce the perimeter fence of the prison yard, for security reasons.