The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has announced that its officials thwarted an attempt to smuggle illicit substances into the Kuje custodial centre in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In a statement issued on Monday, Samson Duza, spokesperson of the NCoS FCT command, said the incident happened around 12:45pm on Saturday during a routine search.
The suspect, identified as Njimogu Ikedi, had “concealed substances believed to be cannabis sativa and other psychoactive drugs in his clothes while trying to visit an inmate”, Duza disclosed.
He added that Christopher Jen, controller of corrections in the FCT, ordered the suspect’s arrest.
The suspect has since been handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further investigation and prosecution.
Jen cautioned visitors with “ulterior motives” to keep away from the custodial centre, stressing that alert officers would continue to expose such attempts. He further appealed to the public to support the service in its mission to reform and rehabilitate offenders for the safety of society.
The interception comes more than a year after a similar case, when a woman was caught attempting to sneak drugs into the facility. She later confessed she was sent to deliver the substances to an inmate and had disguised herself as a visitor, concealing the drugs in food packs.