A 42-year-old man, Daniel Joseph, popularly known as Dangote, who recently served out his 12 years prison sentence said he trained 40 inmates in prison yard at the Nigeria Correctional Service Centre, while serving. Joseph, who hails from Benue State, said he did not regret his 12 years in the prison yard because he was empowered with a washing machine to continue his laundry services.
But he was not happy that his trusted friend lured him to buy a stolen vehicle. He was, however, excited that his wife and daughter did not abandon him during the 12 years in prison, saying that he had learnt his lesson. He was happy that he did not waste the 12 years as he was empowered with a working tool. “I bought a vehicle and it was said to be a stolen vehicle.
After the trials for three years in Imo High Court 8 and 9, it was said that I committed the offence and they gave me 14 years imprisonment. I was convicted on the 29th of September 2014 and I was released on 29th January, 2024. “Before this time, when I was a free man, I lived a luxurious lifestyle. That was what led that friend of mine to involve me in this kind of mess.
For the years I spent here, God was with me. I never regretted it. Old things are passed away and I am a new creature. “I am the General Provost of this Owerri Correctional Center, so all the inmates, 1,259 of them and staff, know me and I carry everybody along. As I am going out today I am proud. I have a partnership with the correctional centre. They know where I live. Eke C. Eke, the officer in charge, is my daddy. We are happy with him. “Even when I was here, 30 to 40 inmates were trained by me.
They passed through me.” Reacting, the officer in charge of Medium Security Custodian Centre in Owerri, Eke C. Eke, said: “In the prison yard, we reform, we rehabilitate and we reintegrate. The reintegration is that a man that has been here for 12 years is going home with something. Assuming he is going home with nothing, it will be terrible.
So, we have reformed him and now we are reintegrating him back to the society. “He is not the only person going home but he is the only person who identified with laundry service. “Some of them do not want to be empowered. Some do not want to learn a trade no matter what you do. For Dangote, he identified his interest; he was a supervisor for the laundry services. So, let me tell you, some people do not have the discipline to learn a trade or skill.”
