*Describe Chinese prisons as worse than Labour Camps
Nigerians incarcerated in Doungguan Foreign Prison in China have called on the Nigerian Government to urgently intervene their cases as they lament the inhuman treatment meted out on them by the Chinese authorities.
Doungguan Foreign Prison is located in the Shilong area of Doungguan, Guangdong province, China, which is said to be holding over 5,000 inmates, most of them Africans.
One of the ex-inmates, Onowu Chukwuemeka, who said he spent 15 years in a Chinese prison narrated the ordeal of most prison inmates of the Foreign prison facility, describing such facility as worse than “a labour camp”.
Chukwuemeka stated that majority of the inmates, most of who had been incarcerated in the facility for years, are Innocent of the crimes they were accused of, but had nobody to stand up for them except “attorneys” assigned to them by the Chinese authorities following their arrest and detention.
He claimed that in most cases, the so-called attorneys appointed by the Chinese authorities end up compromising the case, having been working behind the scenes as stooges of the Chinese government.
The ex-inmate further disclosed that they were forced to work under stringent and often harsh conditions for all manufacturing companies in the entire , Guangdong province , with the assurance that their jail terms would keep reducing if they work round -the -clock or put in more hours than other inmates, all of which turn out to be lies.
According to Chukwuemeka, inmates who fail to meet set targets for one reason or the other “are flogged or beaten mercilessly, starved and locked up in isolated cells till they are ready to conform to the dictates of their task masters.
“Moreover, those that are fit to work are not provided with the required safety kits, hence most of them die inhaling dangerous fumes, melted plastics, coils and so on, while working.
“They produce phone chargers, headphones, reachable lamps, assemble phones and it’s accessories with little or no food; half cooked white rice laced with cucumber or carrot as stew, just to keep them alive to be working for these companies whose interest is for them to meet targets
“As if that is not enough, they (inmates) work 7 days a week, round the clock, except when they go to eat, drink water or to ease themselves, working assiduously with the thought that their jail terms are being reduced based on the number of hours they put in each day, but lo, some work to the extent that they wear themselves out by the time their jail term elapses.
“All these, coupled with other harsh conditions results in many deaths being recorded on daily basis.
“Again, they are not paid a dime for these jobs, rather, the Chinese government and those concerned, keep using them to run their factories which is the reason they do not want them to waste even a minute, having discussions nor play amongst themselves”.
Among many accusations level against the Chinese authorities was that suspects were forced to sign documents written in Chinese language without the benefits of an interpreter, failing which attracts severe beating and other forms of harsh treatment.
Chukwuemeka also alleged that there was no basic or standardized health facility for the prisoners, resulting in high rate of deaths inside the facility.
According to him, outspoken inmates were often forced into solitary confinement where they were subjected to psychological and other forms of torture to ‘soften’ them.
He said some of the inmates confined in isolation cells lose their minds and become mad during incarceration.
He added that because of the severe retribution, inmates refrain from revealing the condition they faced whenever representatives of the Nigerian government visit the facility.
Chukwuemeka stated that there are several Nigerians that have gone berserk while still in the prison, adding that some of those are serving life sentences, some on death row, while others are serving between 18-27 years imprisonment.
Asked to explain the impact, if any, of the visits and complaints lodged to Nigeria Embassy officials, Chukwuemeka who served during the Presidency of Goodluck Jonathan, said the Ambassador at the time, promised to intervene in the issues raised, including unjust imprisonment, release of ailing inmates and general treatment of inmates, before the change of government in 2014, but added that nothing positive was witnessed.
Chukwuemeka therefore calls on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to quickly beam attention on the plight of Nigerians in Doungguan Foreign Prison in China and other prisons across the world, with a view to improve their situation.
