Nigeria Correctional Service confirms dismissing 'whistleblower', gives reasons

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has confirmed the dismissal of Assistant Superintendent of Corrections Efe Onakpoya for alleged whistleblowing.

Mr Onakpoya was an officer attached to the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC) in Afikpo, Ebonyi State.

Sahara Reporters exclusively reported that Mr Onakpoya was dismissed for exposing a colleague, Ogbule Obinna, who took an inmate out of the Ebonyi facility illegally to see his girlfriend for a conjugal visit.”

The newspaper reported that Mr Obinna, who illegally took an inmate out of custody, was pardoned, while the whistleblower, Mr Onakpoya, was dismissed.

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In its response to the story, in a statement issued on Saturday, the NCoS spokesperson, Abubakar Umar, confirmed the dismissal of Mr Onakpoya but claimed that the officer was dismissed for making “false allegations against the Service,” essentially claiming that Mr Onakpoya’s claim was investigated but found to be untrue.

The News Agency of Nigeria reported that Mr Umar said Mr Onakpoya was particularly found guilty of taking unauthorised photographs of an inmate, Ibuchi Eze, at the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Afikpo, and uploading them online.

The spokesperson added that Mr Onakpoya also made false allegations against the Service, including the claim that an inmate was taken out for a conjugal visit.
The NCoS added that the officer was found “guilty of acts unbecoming of a public officer.”

The agency, however, did not comment on Mr Obinna, the officer who was exposed for wrongdoing.

Citing internal Service documents, Sahara Reporters said “Mr Obinna, who illegally took the inmate out of the facility to meet his girlfriend, was pardoned and directed to be posted out of the command.”

Whistleblowers suffer despite the law protecting them.

Whistleblowers in Nigeria face severe risks, including harassment, job loss, and even death, due to the absence of comprehensive legal frameworks to shield them.

Although Nigeria has a law protecting whistleblowers, PREMIUM TIMES reported several instances that show many of them suffer from exposing wrongdoings in government agencies.

Anti-corruption experts and advocates have also identified secrecy in government as one reason that corruption thrives in the country.

Journalists and civil society organisations sometimes rely on such leaks to expose corruption and wrongdoing within the government.

In 2024, the Nigerian government threatened to jail whistleblowers who leaked government documents. One of the clauses used to indict whistleblowers is the breach of oath of secrecy in the Public Service Rules (PSR).

Section 97 (2) of the Criminal Code Act of Nigeria also provides: “Any person who, being employed in the public service, without proper authority abstracts, or makes a copy of, any document the property of his employer is guilty of a misdemeanour and is liable to imprisonment for one year.”

Nigerians losing interest in whistleblowing.

In 2016, the federal government launched a whistleblowing policy, domiciled in the federal Ministry of Finance, to tackle corruption.

The policy seeks to compensate whistleblowers for exposing corruption.

Between 2017 and 2023, the government, through the whistleblowing policy, said it recovered funds totalling N83 billion, $609 million, and 5.49 million euros.

However, the number of willing whistleblowers is said to be on the decline.

A report by the African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) indicated that the initial progress made by the policy is waning.

The report acknowledged that while many Nigerians are aware of the whistleblowing policy, they are hesitant to come forward as whistleblowers.

This hesitancy may be attributed to the lack of comprehensive legal protection, which has led to a loss of confidence in the effectiveness of the current framework, the report said.