Jayne Whyte's Portfolio

The sight of a prison wall gives me goose bumps. I haven’t been to one but sometimes I try to imagine what goes on in there……but sincerely speaking, what I do imagine, is just a fraction of what goes on in there. With what I have heard so far, I have come to understand that life in there is like PRISON. The air stinks, the walls are dilapidated, the food, if any, spoilt, raw and disgusted…….and the song “Mr Jailer”….in the hearts of the men and women, only that they don’t know the lyrics…..but they mean every ‘word’.

I just read an article in the Guardian Newspaper, and though its a sad reality of the situation of the Nigerian prison, it is a big reminder that women and children are suffering within and beyond the walls of prison and sadly, nothing is being done to protect women and children from these situations.

Close your eyes after reading every sentence, and try to imagine what it means to you, the victims and the entire society that we live………tell me what you see……tell me what you think.

This is unbelievable but it is TRUE.

• The pregnant women in prisons do not get special dietary consideration
• The children in prisons, because of their mother’s crimes do not have a place in food arrangements
• The ante-natal and post-natal facilities are next to non-existent.
• Wardens are not given specialised training to handle in mates that need special attention. The only qualification for their job is that they are women caring for women.
• All inmates interact in an open space and are separated by cells at night. they can decide to sleep in each other’s cells.
• Government does perform it’s role of meeting the daily needs of prisoners; missionary bodies, charity groups and NGOs perform these functions.
• Inmates in the female prisons hardly ever have visitors.
• Most women inmates are in prison for crimes committed by their husbands or relations.
• Female inmates are not separated by the degree of their offence into minimum, medium and maximum prisons.
• Psychological torture and abuse by wardens are commonplace especially of women in labour and those involved in fights, but if they are rich and generous, a warden can be their friend.