An investigation has uncovered a shocking case of prison wardens at Okere Prison allegedly releasing inmates to carry out armed robbery operations before allowing them to return to custody.
On January 3, 2025, a gang of armed robbers attacked a man, stealing valuable items from him and transferring ₦4 million from his bank account to a PalmPay account during the incident.
The victim initially reported the crime to the Edo State Police Command, but after little progress was made, the case was transferred to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ekpan Police Station, CSP Aliyu Shaba.
During the investigation, forensic analysis of the PalmPay account led detectives to a suspect in the Udu area. The account holder, a woman, was arrested and later confessed that the account belonged to her boyfriend.
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According to her, she met the suspect online, and they began dating. He told her he worked offshore and managed several employees.
In early January, he called her, claiming his phone had fallen into a river and asked her to open a PalmPay account on his behalf. Later, he sent a woman to collect the ATM card linked to the account.
On January 4, the woman received an alert of ₦4 million and immediately informed her boyfriend. Later that day, he provided her with several account numbers and instructed her to transfer ₦600,000, ₦1.5 million, and ₦1 million to them.
Following an advanced investigation into these transactions, the DPO traced the operation back to Okere Prison.
He quickly led a team of detectives and previously arrested suspects to the prison, where one of the female suspects identified one of the robbers. However, prison officials refused to produce the suspect. Instead, they presented another inmate who was on death row and had also participated in the robbery.
This discovery revealed a disturbing practice where prison wardens allegedly release inmates to travel for armed robbery operations in Benin City before allowing them to return to prison.
All the suspects involved in the robbery are currently serving various jail terms at Okere Prison. Investigations into the scandal are ongoing.
