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PFN, CDHR, Lawyers Disagree Over Prison’s Beauty Pageant

Published

2 years ago

March 31, 2022

Editor

The Executive Director, Prison Fellowship Nigeria, Mr Benson Iwuagwu, has said there is no ground for the anger that greeted the recent beauty pageant held in Kirikiri Maximum Custodial Centre from the legal perspective.

Iwuagwu, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, described the reaction of many Nigerians to the pageant as a moral stance, which is akin to jungle justice.

He said, “I do not see any objective ground for the hullabaloo. But when you look at the morality and the sensibilities, that is how we make noise and later the thing dies down; it is akin to jungle justice of ‘catch him, kill him’ before we now come to find out and ask, ‘was it necessary for us to act that way?’ Of course, there are better ways they could have protested that would be beneficial to society and the people.”

On whether the event was against the law, he said, “If you are talking about law, there is the presumption of innocence that is attached to every person, who is a suspect; it is a constitutional matter. It says until a person is convicted by a duly constituted tribunal or court, such a person is held to be innocent. That is our law.

“Secondly, the Nigerian Correctional Service Act, 2019, introduced a scale of topical shift in the correctional or prison’s regime in Nigeria and if we view that shift in paradigm, and we find that there are provisions that look more at reformation and victims’ remedy, the question to quickly ask is, does that pageant take away any victim’s life? The answer is an objective ‘no.’”

People should be educated on inmates’ rights, says prison minister

Also, the Head of Prison Ministry, The Citadel Global Community Church, Babafemi Famuyide, said the public should be educated to understand that inmates also have rights that should be respected.

Famuyide, in an interview with The PUNCH, said one of the purposes of prison was to reform the character of inmates and rehabilitate them.

He said, “The message I want to emphasise is that we must educate the public to understand that even though these inmates are incarcerated and cut off from society, they also have rights and we must do everything possible to also aid and help in ensuring that they are reformed and properly rehabilitated and reintegrated back into the society so that they can contribute their own quota to the society.

“Also, the purpose of prison is to protect society and to reduce recidivism through character reformation and the rehabilitation efforts. Also with reintegration of these inmates back into society as the end goal, correctional facilities should therefore, offer education, vocational training and any other assistance needed to achieve the above.

“Providing meaningful activities support prison management and it aids in the metal health and rehabilitation of inmates.

“Everything must therefore be done to reduce the rate of recidivism in our justice system. Having said this, can we then say that holding a beauty pageant was not wrong in itself considering that it was conducted to celebrate International Women’s Day? I think that is very key for us to note.

“The beauty pageant also was not the only activity that was carried out that day at the facility. It is also worthy of note to mention that the costumes, hairdos and other accessories that were used by the contestants were the products made by the inmates themselves through skill acquisition trainings that they have had while being incarcerated.”

The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, in a separate interview, also supported the programme, saying it should be extended nationwide to other custodial centres as it was part of the reformation process that inmates should be exposed to.

The National Publicity Secretary, CDHR, Gerald Kathy, said since terrorists were being rehabilitated and reintegrated into society, how much more were other criminal suspects.

He stated, “The beauty pageant is what should be encouraged by all centres. They are being referred to as correctional centres; the essence of that is to receive criminals and rehabilitate them to become useful to themselves and society.

“Today, you see that terrorists are being rehabilitated and reintegrated into society. If the controller was subsequently transferred because of that, then it would be very unfortunate; it defeats the reason we had to change the name of the service. Yes, the case is still on, but why their cases, especially that of Chidinma is still on, she should not be allowed to waste away until the court describes her as a criminal; she’s still a suspect.”

But human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), described the beauty pageant as insensitive.

“There is no provision in the Nigerian Correctional Services Act that provides for beauty pageants in any correctional centre in Nigeria,” he said.

Another SAN, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, took a swipe at the NCoS over the event.

According to him, inmates, especially those who were alleged to have committed capital offences, should be discouraged from such programmes.

He said, “Those who are in custody are entitled to constitutional protection, which is called presumption of innocence; in other words, we can’t judge them or condemn them until the court has ruled on the matter.

“However, with the way they were dressed, giggling and laughing seem to be an excessive display of such right, especially with one of them, who allegedly committed a capital offence. Also, given that public opinion is important in guiding judicial decisions, because justice is in three ways: justice to the society, the victim and the suspect.

“The feelings of the family or others, who have died as a result of their actions can’t be neglected. To me, it was wrong and people facing trial should go through some moral restrain. There are other positive events they can participate in and not the open display of beauty.”

Another SAN, Ifedayo Adedipe, said such event was uncalled for.

“That’s immoral. I am not talking from the illegality or otherwise, I simply think such an event is uncalled for,” he said.

PUNCH

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How Two Kenyan School Dropouts Made Prosthetic Arms For People With Disabilities

Published

4 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

Two young Kenyan inventors have invented bio-robotic prosthetic arms from waste materials to help improve the lives of the physically challenged people in 2021.

Both David Gathu and Moses Kiuna were at the age of 29 when they designed a bio-robotic prosthetic arm in helping the people that have lost their limbs.

Recounting their ordeal before venturing into the invention, the duo said they were forced to drop out of college because of the expensive school fees but did not let the challenges steal their vision.

Gathu and Kiuna accomplished their dream to help their communities in a workshop in Kiambu county in Kikuyu, Kenya, north of the capital Nairobi.

According to Face to Face Africa, the workshop was basically a shed made out of worn-out rusted iron sheets standing next to a chicken coop.

The floor was covered with gravel, making the ground outside the shop and the interior all but indistinguishable, as brown broken glass with tape all around fits the window frame.

Brain signal bio-robotic arm
Another significant thing about the invention was being the world’s first bio-robotic arm operated by brain signals. The invention, which is controlled by brain signals, has been billed as a game-changer in the lives of disabled people in Kenya.

Gathu and Kinyua’s invention was unique and different from most prosthetic technology which is powered by a person’s muscles.

The arm works by converting brain signals into an electric current by a “NeuroNode” biopotential headset receiver. NeuroNode biopotential was originally invented to help people suffering from paralysis and speech loss.

Also, the inventors narrated that the idea to develop an electronic prosthetic came to them during the pandemic as part of their contribution towards assisting Kenya to battle the pandemic. It was initially created to help COVID-19 sanitisation efforts.

“When the virus hit our country, we decided to create a machine that could help us decontaminate surfaces. It can also be used in schools, restaurants, hospitals,” Shoppe Black quotes Kinyua as saying.

Using waste products

According to a report by Anadolu Agency, the Kenyan inventors solved two problems with their innovations, first, by using waste products to make the environment clean and safe, and helping a community of people living with disabilities.

“People throw away a lot of things that are harmful to the environment just because they don’t work. If they don’t work, it might be just one component that’s faulty but all the other components still work and can be recycled,” Gathu said.

“We’ve recycled everything that you see here. They throw it away, we pick it up and use it. This has saved us from spending a lot of money because we’re not backed up financially by anyone to come up with our innovations.”

They picked up “junk” that people threw away – things like plastic, rubber, wiring, old computer motherboards, LED lights, USB devices, switches, optical drives, heat sinks, fans, and power supply units – components that they say could be quite expensive to purchase from a shop.

Helping the community

Speaking about the physically challenged people, he said, “The main reason we came up with this is to help people in our community who have lost their limbs. We don’t want these people to feel like they can’t do anything, we want them to be dependent on themselves.”

The arm can do many more tasks. They say they are still perfecting their device, but lack of funds has been a challenge.

David Mathenge from the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya (APDK), a charity NGO, says: “Such inventions are the future of the science of artificial limbs. This is the science we need to ease the challenges people with disabilities face.”

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Obesity’: Father Forced 6-year-old To Run On Treadmill, Son Dies [VIDEO]

Published

17 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

A disturbing video has emerged showing an accused “killer” father forcing his 6-year-old son to run on a treadmill because the child was “too fat”.

Christopher Gregor, 31, appeared in court Tuesday, April 30 to stand trial for allegedly murdering his son Corey Micciolo in 2021. He faces life in prison if convicted.

During the trial, the Superior Court in New Jersey was shown surveillance video of Gregor forcing Corey to run on a treadmill after the boy fell off multiple times due to the exercise machine’s excessive speed.

Gregor and his son were seen on March 20, 2021, entering the Atlantic Heights Clubhouse fitness center, where the boy was promptly placed on the treadmill and began running, according to a video, obtained by CourtTV.com.

Footage captured Gregor walking up to the treadmill to increase the speed and raise the incline of the track.

The sudden changes in speed and elevation were too much for the little boy’s legs, causing him to fall down and slide off the moving track.

Despite the son falling off, Gregor lifted and tossed him back onto the treadmill, which forced the child’s legs to fold backwards as the father seemingly clamped his teeth into Corey’s head.

The boy gets back on, but again falls off and continues to struggle to remain on the machine, eventually leading the father to decrease both the the speed and incline.

The boy’s mother, Bre Micciolo, was the first witness to take the stand and was in tears as she watched the horrific video.

Days before her son’s death, Bre Micciolo reported the boy’s injuries to the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency, according to the US Sun.

On April 1, she requested that Gregor take their son to see a doctor.

While at the appointment, Corey reportedly revealed his father made him run on the treadmill “because he was too fat,” the outlet reported.

The next day, Gregor rushed the young boy to the hospital because the boy woke up from a nap stumbling, slurring his words, and experiencing nausea and shortness of breath, according to Court TV.

During a CT scan, Corey suffered a seizure, forcing medical staff to take life-saving measures, but he died.

An initial autopsy found Corey died as a result of blunt force injuries with cardiac and liver contusions with acute inflammation and sepsis.

Gregor was arrested in July 2021 on child neglect charges stemming from investigators reviewing the surveillance footage from the fitness center.

“Specifically by having (Corey) run on a treadmill and increasing the speed, causing (Corey) to fall, placing (him) back on the moving treadmill while appearing to bite his head, causing the said child to fall several more times,” an arrest warrant obtained by the outlet read.

In September 2021, a forensic pathologist determined Corey’s death to be a homicide as he suffered from chronic abuse including blunt impact injuries on his chest and abdomen with a laceration on his heart, left pulmonary contusion, and laceration and contusion of his liver.

Dr Thomas Andrew believes Corey suffered an acute traumatic injury to the heart four to 12 hours before his death, according to Court TV.

Gregor was arrested on March 9, 2022, for his son’s death but turned down a 30-year plea deal.

He is being held in the New Jersey Jail without bond.

NEW: Mother breaks down in court as she watches her son’s father abuse her child by making him run on the treadmill because he was “too fat.”
New Jersey father Christopher Gregor is accused of killing his 6-year-old son Corey Micciolo.
New footage shows the boy repeatedly face… pic.twitter.com/aVKknkOGd5
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 1, 2024
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14-year-old British-Nigerian’s Death Raises Renewed Concerns Over Knife Violence In London

Published

17 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

The recent sword attack in Hainault, a suburban area in northeast London, has sparked renewed discussions about the ongoing issue of knife crime in the UK, particularly in the capital.

The young victim of the attack has been identified as Daniel Anjorin, a 14-year-old boy.

The Times reports that Anjorin, the son of a science teacher, went to school with Grace O’Malley-Kumar, the Nottingham knife-attack victim.

According to recent data from the Office for National Statistics, reported by Sky News, there has been a 7% rise in knife crime from December 2022 to December 2023. Over the past decade, there has been a significant 81% increase in this type of crime.

Knife-related crime rates in London and the West Midlands are among the highest in England and Wales.

The number of knife-related crimes reported by the Met Police increased by 20% between 2022 and 2023, while in the West Midlands, there was an 8% rise.

In 2023, London saw a concerning 30% of knife-related crimes, amounting to 165 incidents per 100,000 people.

Meanwhile, the West Midlands recorded a slightly lower rate of 118 incidents per 100,000.

For both male and female victims, sharp objects such as kitchen knives, swords, and machetes accounted for two-fifths of all killings in the United Kingdom in the year ending in March 2023.

While the recent attack involved the use of a sword, statistics from the Home Office indicate that such incidents are relatively rare in cases of fatal stabbings.

Although the attacker employed a sword in yesterday’s incident, it contributed to only three fatalities involving sharp objects in 2023.

Faron Paul, leader of Faz Amnesty, an organisation facilitating the surrender of weapons by children to the police, expressed at the scene of the blockade that authorities are not sufficiently addressing the prevention of knife crime.

Speaking with the BBC, he said, “It’s not rising. It’s gone through the roof. We’ve got a big problem here. Children are dying on the street every single day. You’ve got a problem. And I don’t feel like the right things are being put in place to prevent, deter or stop knife crime.”

He added that it wasn’t just the area but “the whole of London has a problem.”

“We need to have better consequences and laws in place. We need to stop buying and selling illegal weapons online. And then we need to think about preventative measures.”