My Experience in Prison
I hated every moment there.
I went on an outreach to a prison today.
When I woke up this morning, I had no idea I would, but when I was given the chance, I decided to go along with it.
The aim was to fellowship with the inmates, play a few Christian board games with them, make them feel loved, and then share the gift of Salvation with them.
When we arrived, we had to drop off our phones and devices with the security guard outside the prison compound.
Then, we entered the reception, and we were given visitor tags.
They took us to the male facility and we had only an hour to spend.
I noticed a chalkboard on the wall with the prison details written on it and decided to read it.
That was the first shock I received.
Almost 2000 thousand inmates.
(Male and Female.)
More than a thousand of them were tagged as "AWAITING TRIAL."
(many of them have probably been there for years).
28 of them on life sentence.
In a 390-capacity prison.
2000 people in a space meant for just 390.
How?
We had taken some food items and drinks with us, but I doubt it would sustain up to 10% of the people there.
(that's if the food even gets to them lmao.)
As we entered the prison yard and walked deeper toward the chapel, I couldn't bring myself to look any of them in the eye.
I kept my eyes trained firmly on the ground.
I'm a strong empath, so I couldn't bear to look at people living in such a state.
I felt like my "freedom" was a "privilege," and my presence there was just me mocking them.
The moments I had to look up, I noticed that they all had their attention firmly trained on us.
Some stared at us with envy.
Some with anger.
Some with what I could only describe as resignation.
Some looked like they were finally glad to have some sort of connection with the outside world.
To have people show concern for them.
Some of them looked desperately hungry.
Some begged for money and food.
Most of these men were very skinny.
Clearly malnourished, with bones poking out of their torn shirts.
I saw young boys that I'm probably older than, with as much as 6 years.
And older men that I'm sure are x4 my age.
Their living conditions seemed so terrible.
And there were a lot of them.
A lot.
I couldn't help but wonder how many prisons like that are all across Nigeria and the entire world.
Another thing that struck me was the palpable happiness radiating off some of these inmates.
Some of them smiled at us.
Some hailed us.
"PSG boy!" one of them called out to me, and when I looked up, I saw that he was wearing a PSG jersey, too.
I couldn't help but smile at him.
When we got to the chapel, there was this little praise session, and the way some of them sang with joy and excitement was admirable.
Most people in church that aren't incarcerated don't even sing that way, fgs.
I met a guy named David. He was in the prison choir and just laughed every time he talked.
It made no sense to me.
Those who are "free" get sad and upset over the most mundane things.
Think about it: People who are in the outside world, able to live and work freely, are complaining bitterly about the state of the nation.
Imagine how bad it must be for the people who are locked up, left entirely at the mercy of a corrupt, unfair, and dysfunctional system.
They were clearly "suffering" to an extent.
Their circumstances were beyond ideal.
So how does a person imprisoned, hungry, and frustrated maintain their sanity, talk less of their happiness?
I know that many or even most of them are in there for the crimes that they committed.
Of course, anybody that deserves to be in prison should be, but I don't think it's fair to leave them in such shitty conditions.
Humans are humans.
If they didn't get the death penalty for their crimes, then they still deserve to live with some form of dignity.
That prison is meant to be a "correctional facility", but what kind of correction can anybody even receive in such a place?
We've heard stories of people returning from serving time and ending up being worse off than they initially were.
I understand it now.
But being imprisoned does not mean that they can no longer amount to anything good.
These men deserve to be engaged in one manner or another, not just sitting idle, day after day, wasting away their lives for years.
They can be put in factories or on farms to work.
That way, they contribute to the nation's growth while serving their sentences.
We complain of the "lack of manpower" when there are thousands of able-bodied grown men just doing nothing in these "correctional facilities".
Ridiculous.
I had so many perspective shifts and reality checks today.
Freedom.
My God.
Freedom is underrated.
Freedom to live.
Freedom to move.
To use your time as you want.
It's a priceless gift.
You can say, "prisons are not so bad in developed countries," and you might be right.
Maybe they eat thrice a day, maybe they can play sports, maybe they get regular family visits.
But they are still not free.
They can't do anything or go anywhere they want.
Being in that locked environment made me appreciate many things I probably take for granted.
Being able to watch football weekly.
Being able to have calls till 4 am.
Being able to sleep and wake up anytime I want.
Being able to listen to music.
Being able to see my friends regularly
And so many other things.
It also made me wonder.
So many questions…
How do they keep track of time?
How long are the days to them?
How do the people serving life sentences live their day-to-day lives?
Do they deserve their situations, despite whatever sins they might have committed?
How many of them are innocent?
How many of them were framed?
Was it by friends, family, powerful people?
How many of them are there because of mistaken identity?
How many of them are there because of "one simple mistake"?
What did those small boys do to end up in there?
Does being in prison make them remorseful or bitter?
Do the donations given to them daily actually get to them?
Or do the wardens divert it all for their personal use?
What happens when they inevitably fall sick?
How many inmates have died due to terrible illnesses?
How do they keep records of the prisoners?
How do they know when it's time for one of them to leave?
Because it seems to me like they were all just squeezed in there.
Why is Nigeria like this?
Will Nigeria ever get better?
As the pastor preached to them on hope and Salvation, I was still wondering:
How do you even encourage someone in such a terrible place to "be of good cheer"?
How do they accept the message of Jesus in a place that's full of despair and with no hope in sight?
I could see the hunger and pain in their eyes even as they willingly sat in the chapel and listened.
I imagined I was one of them.
I've not eaten well in weeks. I'm starving and then one random pastor is coming here to tell me to eat from the "bread of life".
Pastor, wo, if you don't produce real bread for me right now.
Sorry, but it's very easy to believe in God when your biggest problem is changing your phone or needing a new wig.
I'm not belittling anybody's request; it's not me you're praying to, but it just puts things into perspective.
I believe that this message of Salvation is the only real hope for all people.
No matter their circumstances in life.
But I guess I never deeped just how many people desperately need some form of hope and how "ridiculous" this gospel we preach might seem to the people in pain.
Encouraging them to believe in a man they can't see but who supposedly died for their freedom might seem foolish.
It's not logical.
But that's the truth of the message we carry.
That's why we need to keep sharing it.
Whatever way you can. It doesn't matter how "little".
Tell someone about Him.
Encourage a friend in need.
Find scriptures of the Bible you like and inject them into your being.
Post them on your story.
Try your best to live right.
There's the place of guiding and watching too.
Guide against getting into trouble and watch against being put into trouble.
I'm by no means a patriot.
But it's sad how there's so much wrong with this country and how many innocent (and guilty) people have to suffer for it.
I try my best not to complain about Nigeria anymore sha.
It is well.
God still dey.
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I personally feel like no matter what they have done. They deserve to live like people and not animals and if they did something so bad like murder many people, then and only then should they receive such penalty.
The sad reality is that half of those people are actually innocent. In the other half that are guilty, half did it by mistake and most of the times the guilty influencal ones leave first while the others are left to suffer because no one will speak on their behalf.
The situation is so appalling, but it is well. We can only do what we can and pray for God to release them.
Always coming with a better perspective. I really respect your work man!
Jah bless.