Security Expert Urges CCTV Installation in All Nigerian Prisons After Keffi Jailbreak

Security consultant Dickson Osajie has urged the Federal Government to install Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) systems in all correctional facilities across Nigeria, following a series of jailbreaks, the latest being the escape of 16 inmates from the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Keffi, Nasarawa State.

Speaking on Wednesday’s edition of The Morning Brief on Channels Television, Osajie stressed the importance of surveillance technology in preventing prison breaks. “The Nigerian prison facilities, we need to know if they have CCTV monitoring systems in place. CCTV plays a role in psychological deterrence,” he told the programme’s crew.

“If these criminals are aware they are being monitored by CCTV systems, they will not take a step to carry out prison break activities. So, for the most part, they need to have the CCTV in place and have officers monitor it live,” he added.

Osajie questioned how inmates could escape while officers were on duty, emphasising that every prison should have a dedicated control room to track activities in real time. “If we have a prison facility, we must have a control room in place that will monitor everything going on in the prison facility. Where are the technological systems to send a signal to the control room?” the Managing Director of DBreeze Protection Service asked.

He described the recent incident as proof that the current security system had failed. “The crime has been committed, the escape has been committed, and that tells you that your security system has been defeated, and when your security system is defeated, you need to come on board and reassess,” he said.

Osajie also called for improved training for correctional officers and the adoption of what he described as “the concentric cycle of protection” — three security layers consisting of the inner zone where inmates are kept, the middle zone containing administrative blocks, and the outer zone, which forms the final barrier. “For a prisoner or for an inmate to escape, he must have passed through these zones,” he explained.

Expressing disbelief at the ease of escapes, he remarked, “Why these guys escape like that as if they are living in a bungalow or two-bedroom flat? If this keeps happening, you’re endangering the lives of the Nigerian people because one or two inmates might go back to revenge.”