Four hundred and sixty eight Nigerians are currently serving jail terms in UK, and this figure put the country on the summit of the list of African countries’ citizens in the overcrowded jails, it was gathered yesterday.
Nigerians cooling their heels in UK jails include former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, his wife, Nkoyo, his sister and mistress.
Other figure revealed that with 1,000 prisoners in British jails from Poland, citizens of the Eastern Europe country make up 9 per cent of the 11,000 foreign inmates behind bars in the UK – and the next worst offenders are Ireland and Jamaica, with more than 700 prisoners from both of those countries.
Britain is said to spend more than £360million a year to keep foreign inmates in jail, with the other countries in the top ten being Romania, Pakistan, Lithuania, Nigeria, Somalia, India and Albania
The figures were revealed by the Sunday People, which reported that the UK’s jail population is 85,000 – and just 17 criminals have been sent home in the European Union since December 2011.
The most notorious Polish inmates are Daniel Pelka’s mother and stepfather, who are each serving at least 30 years for the ‘unimaginable acts of cruelty and brutality’ they committed against him.
The judge condemned ‘callous and wretched’ mother Magdalena Luczak, 27, and stepfather Mariusz Krezolek, 34, of Coventry, saying that little Daniel ‘must have been absolutely terrified’.
The four-year-old boy died in March 2012 after a sustained period of ‘appalling cruelty’ during which the couple starved him, force-fed him salt, tortured him and locked him in a tiny room.
Other Polish inmates include a chemistry lecturer who was jailed last month after plotting a Breaking Bad-style operation to produce £4million of amphetamine every two days.
OFFENDERS BEHIND BARS IN UK BY HOME COUNTRY
- Poland: 989
- Ireland: 778
- Jamaica: 711
- Romania: 588
- Pakistan: 522
- Lithuania: 518
- Nigeria: 468
- Somalia: 423
- India: 417
- Albania: 303
Ryszard Jakubczyk, 61, planned to make the stimulant drug in a secret laboratory in Grantham, Lincolnshire. He hoped to produce 88lbs of almost pure amphetamine every 48 hours.
Glyn Travis, of the Professional Trades Union for Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers, told the Sunday People: ‘The prison system is bursting at the seams.
‘The Government needs to engage with other countries to take ownership of their offenders so the Ministry of Justice can target offenders and address offending behaviour.’
But Justice Minister Jeremy Wright said: ‘The foreign national prisoner population is lower than in 2010 and reducing it further is a top priority for this Government.’
Mr Wright added that more than 4,500 foreign criminals were deported from Britain last year. Under a deal agreed by the last Labour government, no Polish inmates will have to serve their sentences back home until at least December 2016 to give the country time to build new jails.
survey or not,we’re the most economically corrupt nation on earth. we dont need stats to prove that.
ibori is just the face to represent nigeria’s corruption. nice 1,orijo
What a reputation we have. atleast we are know for something