Inmate who gave birth to twins in prison dies two days after

An awaiting trial female inmate in Afokan Prison, Calabar, who gave birth to twins last week, has died. The Nigerian Prisons Service, Cross River State Command, disclosed yesterday to newsmen.

The Public Relations Officer of the command, ASP Effanga Etim, made this known in a statement noting that she died on April 19, two days after giving birth due to complication derived from the Caesarian Section. Etim said the babies are in the care of the state government at the moment.

The command however debunked claims in the media that she gave birth inside the prison, noting that she was registered at the General Hospital in Calabar where she had been receiving regular ante-natal care. The statement partly read: “The Nigeria Prisons Service, Cross River State Command has received with dismay media reports insinuating that an Awaiting Trial Female (ATF) inmate of Calabar Prison was delivered of twins inside the prison facility. The report is not true as the said inmate was remanded by a High Court in Calabar on November 5, 2018 with six-month-old pregnancy for the offense of child stealing.

“While in prison, she had been under regular ante-natal care at the General Hospital, Calabar. On April 17, 2019 at about 1:30p.m. when her labour began, she was admitted in the same hospital and a caesarean section was carried out on her.

“With the intervention of the Cross River Commissioner of Health, and the efforts of the prison authorities to provide the funds needed for the caesarean section, the inmate was delivered of twins: a boy and a girl. However, due to complications arising from the operation, she was referred to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) for further management, where she died.

“The command wishes to state emphatically that for the past four years, there has not been any delivery in the Calabar prison infirmary. Albeit, the infirmary is well equipped to handle health emergencies that may arise with nine medical experts comprising of a medical doctor, registered nurses/midwives and community health workers, as well as back-up medical personnel stationed in the State Prison Headquarters, any emergency beyond the infirmary is referred to government hospitals outside the prison.

“The Nigerian Prisons Service, Cross River state command, is pained over the loss of the inmate after a combined effort by the prison authority, the state government and medical personnel at the General Hospital, Calabar. I assure the public that the health and welfare of prisoners remain its top priority.”