Prison experts have elucidated on the controversies surrounding where crossdresser, Idris Okuneye, widely recognized as Bobrisky, served his prison terms for his naira abuse case.
Bobrisky was released from prison on August 5 after serving a six-month prison sentence for abusing naira notes, as handed down by Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Lagos on April 12, 2024.
However, there have been controversies regarding Bobrisky’s jail term.
On Tuesday evening, prominent influencer Martins Vincent Otse, also referred to as VeryDarkMan shared a voice recording purportedly featuring Bobrisky, in which he allegedly confessed to bribing EFCC officials with ₦15 million.
In the recording, Bobrisky stated that the ₦15 million was intended to persuade EFCC officials to dismiss the money laundering charges against him.
Additionally, the crossdresser asserted that he did not spend any time in prison following his conviction and subsequent six-month sentence.
However, amid a series of speculations and investigations commenced by concerned bodies, prison experts have explained the reasons behind the segregation of the controversial crossdresser from other inmates at the correctional facility while refuting allegations regarding the existence of a VIP section.
During an appearance on Arise TV’s The Morning Show on Friday, Bishop Kayode Williams, the Director General of the Prison Rehabilitation Mission, detailed the various accommodations allocated to inmates according to distinct classifications.
According to him, there was a need to provide Bobrisky with a special place different from other inmates in order to protect him from danger.
Williams feared that homosexual inmates might take advantage of Bobrisky’s body features if he was not separated from them.
He said, “There are accommodations for condemned prisoners, those sentenced to death, who must not mingle with other inmates. The second accommodation is convicted inmates, who are the owners of the prison.”
Speaking further on Bobrisky’s situation, Williams said: “The accommodation that is provided for males, are they going to bring Idris with his transgender body /look to go and sleep in the general cell? The first thing they do is decide how to treat someone like that.
“They provided him a special place for protective custody because, with his appearance, he would be in danger. He looks like a woman, moves like a woman, and there are homosexual inmates who would be willing to take things to extreme lengths.”
On his part, former National PRO of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Francis Enobore, corroborated Williams’ comments, explaining that the service profiles each inmate for both their safety and the general prison environment.
“Yes, he confessed in court that he is a man but he came in bodily showing that he is a woman. Some of the people behind bars are unrepentant homosexuals. There is no doubt that if care is not taken, we will have a very serious security situation on our hands,” he said.
However, Enobore refuted claims of Bobrisky being given a private section, stating, “There’s no such thing as a private apartment or anything special in the prison.”
