The mental image we mostly have about prisoners, or ‘inmates’–as they are now called, thanks to the name change from prisons to ‘custodial centres’–are scrawny, hungry and underfed boys huddled together in squalid cells. While that is certainly true, there’s a silver lining to it.
By Joshua I. | March 21, 2025
The Case of H-Money
In 2019, the case of one Hope Olusegun Aroke who pulled off a million-dollar scam from Kirikiri was widely reported, including by the BBC and CNN. Mr. Aroke, aka H-Money, while serving a 24-year jail term for fraud, had access to a cellphone within Kirikiri Prison. Using falsified health papers provided by prison officials, he was admitted to the Nigeria Police Hospital, Falomo, Lagos, for an undisclosed ailment.
From there, H-Money lodged at hotels, met his family and even attended what the EFCC described as ‘social functions.’ In other words, he was essentially a free man. Using the alias Akinwunmi Sorinmade, he opened two accounts with First Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc. While still on trial in 2015, he purchased a four-bedroom duplex at Lekki for N48 million.
Four years into his sentence, he acquired another property at Fountain Spring Estate, Lekki, Lagos, for N22 million. In the same 2018, he also acquired a Lexus RX 350 2018 model and registered in his wife’s name, Maria Jennifer Aroke.
In 2019, the EFCC traced a million dollar scam back to him.
Enugu Prison: They Call It Malaysia
Aroke is not an outlier, he’s just one among many. At Enugu’s “Malaysia,” inmates run elaborate scams that target victims all over the world. These schemes generate fortunes and with their proceeds, they fund luxury lifestyles inside the prison walls. The biggest inmates boast private cells outfitted with plush carpets, flat-screen TVs and ceiling fans to keep away the heat. Others pay warders to deliver cocaine, meth, and cannabis on demand.
Others colonize cells built for six hold 80 inmates, forcing other cells to squeeze in crowds of prisoners. There, they sleep like sardines, and in shifts, without minding. Since, even in hell, there’s money to be made from running errands for the top shots.
For officers in smaller nearby prisons like Nsukka where the inmates run smaller scams, a posting to “Malaysia” is a golden ticket. Officers bribe Abuja officials for a transfer and then settle with their Controller-in-charge. The investment is worth it. There, officers can expect to make twice their monthly salary in a week by smuggling phones, drugs, and luxury goods.
Cocaine, weed, and meth—all are on order in Malaysia. The only requirement for an officer is guts.
VIP Apartments for Big Fishes in Kirikiri
At Kirikiri VIP, inmates live in ‘apartments’ instead of cells. These self-contained rooms come with private showers, toilets, televisions and even generators. There, the officers target inmates sent to the prison on fraud cases. Access to the VIP apartments depends on the amount of money involved in the inmate’s case. The bigger the fraud, the higher the bribe demanded by the officers for access to the apartments.
Alongside these apartments, VIPs also have ‘guards’, mostly less privileged inmates who clean, wash clothes and provide protection for the top shots. No one enters the VIP sections without permission from the guards. According to the Punch, former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu built himself a VIP block when sent to Kirikiri in 2019. That block is now called Abia Hall and is reserved for lower-class VIPs. There, inmates have unrestricted access to their cellphones and freedom to continue running scams from behind bars.
At Ikoyi, a cellblock called Booster, originally built for underage inmates, was repurposed for VIPs. This flat has its own fence and gate, separate from the main yard, with self-contained rooms and even flowers. Inmates there use phones freely. They don’t eat regular prison food, instead, they employ other inmates to prepare their meals with frozen chicken, turkey, and other delicacies purchased with money made from their scams.
Who’s Really in Jail?
It is such privileges that produced, among many nameless others,
- Ikechukwu Ogbu, who defrauded a banker, Patrick Edetchukwu, of a sum of N12.3m while serving a 10-year sentence for an undisclosed crime at Kirikiri Maximum Prison.
- Ifeanyi Ezenwa, who defrauded an orthopedic medical store of two wheel chairs and N50,000 and also scammed Elizade Motors into handing over a vehicle, which his accomplice sold for N9m.
Nigeria’s prisons mirror the larger Nigerian society. Everywhere, justice is turned into a commodity that can be exchanged for money. And punishment is reserved for the poor. Until there is a dismantling of the the gates of our prisons will remain revolving doors for crime.
Stay in the know
The Noble Edge Effect: Why Doing Good Is Good for Business: Ethical leadership builds trust, loyalty and success.
The Ambiguity Effect: Why Uncertainty Can Cost You Opportunities: Learn actionable ways to overcome uncertainty and unlock new opportunities.
