By Damilare Adeleye
An investigative panel set up by the federal government has said there was no evidence that Idris Okuneye, a controversial crossdresser better known as Bobrisky, slept outside prison walls after she was sentenced.
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, had set up the panel after VeryDarkMan, an activist, shared a audio in which Bobrisky purportedly claimed that he bribed some Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials to drop the money laundering charge against him.
In the footage, a voice allegedly belonging to Bobrisky also claimed that a “godfather”, alongside Haliru Nababa, the controller general of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), ensured he served the six-month sentence in a private apartment and not in prison.
Following the the exposé, Tunji-Ojo constituted an investigative panel chaired by Magdalena Ajani, permanent secretary of the ministry of interior, on ‘Alleged Corruption & Other Violations Against the Nigerian Correctional Service’.
According to the panel, there was no evidence to support claims that Bobrisky slept outside the prison facility during her imprisonment.
Reading the phase one report of the panel at the ministry of interior on Monday, Uju Agomoh, executive director and founder of Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), said the panel “did not find any evidence thus far that suggested that Mr Okuneye slept outside the custodial centre during the period of his imprisonment, which was from 12th April 2024 to the 5th August 2024, which is a six-month correctional sentence with the usual remission applicable”.
Bobrisky was released from prison on August 5 after he was sentenced to six months on April 12 for abusing the naira.