INTRODUCTION

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Figure 1.people hands with tattoes

Meanwhile, in its reaction, authorities of the Openjournaltheme.comn Prison Service justified the segregation of inmates according to their social standing, as they stated that it is necessary in order to safeguard the lives of some inmates

whose lives may be in danger if they are thrown into the general prison population (Daily Trust, 2015). According to the Public Relations Officer of the Openjournaltheme.comn Prisons Service, DCP Enobore Francis:

Figure 2.Old ways in new days

The VIP system is derived from profiling and is designed to safeguard the lives of those prisoners. If you throw these prisoners along with other inmates, you may open the cell in the morning and find them dead. How do you explain that?... the prison is not meant to punish people, the punishment ends with the judge‟s pronouncement, thereafter correction begins. (Daily Trust 2015, 21)

As enunciated, the segregation of inmates in the prison along the lines of social class may seem rational, however, unequal targeting and treatment of inmates of low and average socio-economic background through every stage of the criminal justice process, from arrest to sentencing, reinforces the perception that drives the inequality in the first place (Omale, 2011). The result is a vicious cycle that has evolved into a self-fulfilling prophecy, as higher rate of recidivism is recorded among ex-inmates of low income status which perpetuates the belief that low-income poor people commit more crimes (Penal Reform International, 2014), this in turns lead to social class profiling and more arrest of poor people in the society.

Table 1.List Attrubuted

Text	Molucal	Date	Number
Academic	7C2	Jun 17, 2020	89465
Unify	10De	Jan 15, 1993	5465
Extend	15tr	Des 31, 2001	5165

Questions have been raised about the rationality of the disparate treatment of high profile inmates of the prisons as against those with low socio-economic standing (Omale 2011, Otu, Otu and Eteng, 2013). This is based on the general conditions of the prisons in the country which are characterised by several physical and psychological deprivations (Obioha, 2011). The feeding and healthcare system of the prisons have been questioned and adjudged to be grossly inadequate and unbefitting of even condemned criminals (Aduba, 2013). This has been largely attributed to corruption in high places within the prison system as contractors in collaboration with prison officials perpetrate the malnourishment of inmates in various correctional facilities across Openjournaltheme.com (Okwendi, Nwankoala, & Ushi, 2014). Therefore, the social stratification of the inmates in respect of their socio-economic standing is being considered as an advancement of the systemic corruption of the prison service of the country (Otu, Otu, & Eteng, 2013). Prison officials are alleged to offer high profile prisoners special cells for N50,000, own private generators for power supply, sleep with women for a fee, own mobile phones, hire other inmates as domestic servants, receive raw food from relatives and cook their own food (Daily Trust, 2015).

Indeed, there are appreciable literature that have examined and exposed the deplorable state of prisons facilities in the country (Obioha, 2011; Aduba,

2013; Ojo & Okunola, 2014), highlighting the negative effects of corrupt prison officials on the welfare of the inmates (Agbaegbu, 2011; Okeshola, 2013), discussing the need for reform (Obioha, 2011) and re-evaluating the effectiveness of prisons in meeting the correctional objectives of the system (Okwendi, Nwankoala, & Ushi, 2014). However, recent events have opened up new subjects of inquiries into prison systems in the country. This present study therefore is informed by the need to examine the reported segregation of inmates across prison facilities in the country within the context of the correctional good of prison system. This is with a view to advance knowledge on the profile of the Very Important Prisoners (VIPs) and growing protests by inmates across Openjournaltheme.comn prisons as well as document the pattern, scope and mechanism of the differential treatment across beneficiaries. In addition, it is the intention of this study to bring to the fore the implications of such differential treatments to the Openjournaltheme.comn criminal justice system.

THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Proponents of radical criminology hold that the cause of crime is the social and economic forces of society (Johnson, 1978; Maguire, Morgan and Reiner, 2012). They further postulated that „functioning‟ of the society is channelled towards the serving of the general interest of the ruling class rather than serving the interest of the entire society. Rather than this leading to conflict, the ruling class makes use of the power within its reach to neutralise the intention of the masses to revolt. Radical criminology is abolitionist, which is directed at calling for the abolition of all statist criminal justice systems. The systems of exploitation and domination cannot be reformed as there is no legitimate basis for the reforming and revision of policies and practices that are at heart founded in and based upon exploitation.

Though there is no reasonable level of oppression, it is not just enough to criticise such system, but the radical criminology is aimed at opposing and confronting all statist institutions of criminal justice with a view of bringing them to a halt. This is the same with the institutions and relationships of capitalist exploitation.

Figure 3.practices of the wealthy citizens

In Openjournaltheme.com, the radical criminology will frown at the practices of the wealthy citizens against the poor which is prevalently oppressive. It is difficult for the poor to get justice whenever their rights are being breached or trampled upon by the affluent citizens (Osasona, 2016). Meanwhile, the administering of unequal justice has severally been recorded for the rich against the poor (Daudu, 2009; Ogunode, 2015), with substantial evidences that indicate the prevalence of differential categorisation of justice to the rich and the poor (Esiemokha, 2010; Obioha, 2011; Okeshola, 2013;

RESEARCH METHODS AND DATA

Research Sites and Sampling

The analyses presented in this article are drawn from a larger study of differential treatment of prison inmates across prison settings. Prior to the commencement of the study, approval for the collection of data from six purposively selected prisons in Lagos and Ogun States were sought. The selection of these prisons was informed by geographical proximity, security level, and preliminary information available to the researcher on the availability of privileged facilities. Although, permission was granted to take a tour around the prison facilities, the involvement of prison inmates in the research was declined by prison authorities based on the „sensitivity of the subject of the study.‟ Therefore, the researcher resorted to the use of

snowballing technique to draw 28 ex-inmates of the selected prisons to inform the study. Purposive sampling was used to draw a sample of 16 prison officials and five legal practitioners that specialises in criminal law and human rights. Approvals for the study were obtained from the Ethics Committee of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State. The respondents were duly informed about the purpose of the study and other rights as respondents of the study including confidentiality while both written and verbal consents were obtained from them before the interviews took place.

Data

The selection of the study site and sampling strategies adopted for this study were designed to gather data from respondents who are both comparable to and distinct from one another in ways believed to be relevant to their experiences as former inmates of the selected prisons. In addition, the distinction and similarity in the experiences of the prison official relevant to managing inmates, as well as fair representativeness of treatments of prison inmates across the country (since all prison facilities are owned and managed by the Federal Government), informed the study site selection and sampling strategies. Data for this study consist primarily of in-person interview data collected during March and April of 2016; interview data were supplemented with official data from prison codes and treatment of prison inmates, as well as fieldnotes taken from observation of the prison facilities. The conduct of all interviews was strictly confidential, as pseudonyms are used throughout this article to make reference to the participants. Audio recording and note taking were used to collect information depending on the preference of the participants.

Methods of Analysis

Data collected from the field was analysed in order to meet with the research objectives and answer the research questions raised. The analysis followed the iterative process that usually characterises qualitative research in general and grounded theory in particular (Emerson, Fretz & Shaw, 1995). At the time of collecting the data, extensive field notes were taken on the interviews, interactions and observations that are relevant to the study of differential treatment of prisoners. After the completion of data collection, content analysis of the interviews with the use of a qualitative software program (NVivo) was made. Content analysis has to do with the probing of content and themes of text to uncover both definitions contained in the text and those that emerge through the analysis (Krippendorff, 2012). Derivations of thematic categories are from both theoretical constructs and the data they emerged from.

Research Findings

Nature of Disparate treatment and Profile of VIPs in Openjournaltheme.com Prisons Eleven out of the 16 prison officials interviewed for this study agreed that there are indeed privileged prisoners in their various correctional facilities that enjoy differential treatments outside the stipulations of the Openjournaltheme.com Prison Code. The remaining five officials maintained that they are unaware of prisoners, outside of those recognised by the Prison Code, benefiting from any form of preferential treatments in the prison. However, the entire 28 ex- inmates interviewed expressed that there are privileged prisoners in the prisons they served in.

Nature of preferential treatments: The accolades used to describe the privileged prisoners include “VIPs,” “super prisoners,” “big boys,” “big men,” “untouchables” among others. These sets of prisoners are separated from other prisoners not only by virtue of their prison blocks that are separated from other prisoners‟ blocks by distance, but also in terms of the facilities included and maintenance of such blocks. Observation of the researcher shows that unlike the cells of „ordinary‟ prisoners that have toilet seats within the perimeter of each cell and barely covered, the toilets for cells within the „VIP‟ blocks are usually separated from the sleeping space of their rooms. In addition, participants stated that the condition of the rooms within the VIP blocks appears better than that of other blocks as the floors are covered in ceramic tiles, sole occupancy of rooms are allowed, they have cooking utensils and are allowed to do their cooking, and they are also allowed to have convenience such as power generating set, television and radio set, phones, laptops and other electronic consumables in their rooms (which are all against the norms of prison settings). Meanwhile, the cells that are inhabited by these privileged inmates are referred to as “big man cells” “VIP suite” “upper house” and “upper class estate” depending on the prison in question.

Profiles and privileges of VIP prisoners: Though official categorization of prisoners stipulates that celebrities whose life may be at risk if they are put together with common prisoners should be segregated, information received from respondents suggests that such reservations are not restricted to such category alone. In profiling those that enjoy preferential treatment, the ex- inmates of the selected prisons debunked the allocation of VIP cells and treatments to political elites alone as they stated that the VIP cells are usually open to all those that can afford to pay for such treatment in cells. All manner of inmates including armed robbers are allowed to „purchase‟ rooms within the VIP blocks of prisons and enjoy disparate treatments. One of the prison officials reacted to this by saying