tells her prison story
By Njoku
Although, she has since regained her freedom, after
spending one year behind bars, it will, perhaps, take
Miss Jennifer Ngozi Mberekpe a long time to
overcome the traumatic experience she had while in
prison.
In fact, the more she tries to erase the unthinkable
picture from her mind, the more she's haunted by its
memory. She can never look towards the
unforgetable prison images without a 'shudder and a
sigh.'
From the terrifying practice of 'warm bath' by the prison mother, and the unholy practices that become the order of the day in the cell, the prison gate for Miss Mberekpe. presents a scary picture of the proverbial "Gate of hell, or better still, a thin line between death and life."
"The first day I entered the prison, the authorities there were contemplating on which of the cells they would put me. At last, they took me to a particular cell where they handed me over to a cellmate called my mother who gave me a "warm bath" as a way of welcoming me to the cell, and later she took me through the prison routine," she began.
Miss. Mberekpe was recently freed from the Kirikiri
Prison, Apapa. She had been behind bars since last
year, following a case of fraud preferred against her.
But for divine intervention, she was freed some 12
days after the Founder and General Overseer of
Word and Spirit Assembly Church, Satellite Town,
Pastor. Chris Ekeh visited the Kirirkiri Prison on the
17th of July, 2015, to celebrate his 40th birthday with
the inmates. Her case was struck out by the trial
judge.
In a recent encounter with Saturday Vanguard, Miss
Mberekpe, who hails from Imo State, told us what it
was like to spend a year of her life in the prison,
living at the mercy of the inedible food, solitary
lifestyle and the scratchy prison uniforms. Describing
her release as a "divine intervention' Mberekpe said,
the prison is not a place anyone can wish for his or
her enemies.
While the days, Mberekpe spent behind bars were
terrible, she believes that the worst of these
moments was when she was first transported from
the court to the Kirikiri prison.
According to her, "When they took me to the
prison, I thought it was the end of the road for me.
I left everything in the hands of God. I prepared my
mind to accept the worst while in prison. I was not
scared, but it is not an experience one would wish his
or her enemies. It is only those inmates who have no
focus that would want to go back there."
While I was in prison, she continued, " I never had
any good news. It was one sad story or the other. But
what kept me going was the fact that I believed I
would overcome my travails someday. I was never
discouraged."
However, one thing that gave Miss Mberekpe
sleepless nights throughout her one year behind bars
was a situation where her family, friends and
church members abandoned her to her fate. She
said, " Even when I called my relations, friends and
church members nobody came to my rescue. But
despite my predicaments, I still had peace within me
and I strongly believed that someday, I would regain
my freedom."
Miss Mberekpe opened a can of warms, revealing
that lesbianism, among other ugly acts, thrives in
prison. " I discovered some unholy practices such as
lesbianism thriving in prison. But I did not do it
because from the moment I was ushered into the
place, my cell mates knew I was a Christian and did
not indulge in such unholy practice," she revealed.
She however, acknowledged the efforts made by the
prison authorities to curb the bestial act. " All thanks
to the former Deputy Controller of Prisons,DCP, who
dealt with the evil. She stood up against it and
ensured that lesbianism was drastically reduced in
the prison," she said.
Miss Mberekpe's journey to the Kirikiri prison, began
in 2014, when she was linked with N12.5 million deal,
which was invested in her former company by their
clients. Then she was working with a Lagos- based
assets management company which was into stock,
shares and private placements. The company,
according to her, collects the funds from individuals,
companies or associations and invest them into
unknown products.
According to her story, in 2014, a large sum of N12.5
million was invested in a business, but following the
crisis in the stock exchange market then, the fund
was diverted on the instruction of their client. It so
happened that one of the investors, whose share
was N1 million was not satisfied with the
development, as he decided to take a legal action
against her because she was the person that brought
him into the business.
"It was a business transaction that took me to the
prison. It wasn't as if I embezzled the funds or it was
lost due to bad business. But the client involved used
his discretion to divert the funds which was
supposed to be used to execute the business," she
recounted.
Miss Mberekpe, said, the turning point in her life as
an inmate was the day she encountered Pastor Chris
Ekeh, when he visited the Kirikiri prison to celebrate
his 40th birthday with the inmates.
According to her, she was moved by the man's
message. "While he was preaching to us, the man of
God said, 'though they may have forsaken you, your
family members, friends an even church members,
there is one thing that will follow you. It is the
goodness and mercy of The Lord.'
She said that his message might have looked
ordinary to many but to her it meant a lot and she
quickly grabbed the message and tried to live it. " The
man of God visited the prison on the 17th of July, and
I regained my freedom on the 29th of July. All along,
no lawyer has represented me in court, but the last
time I appeared in court, after Pastor Chris's visit to
the prison, a lawyer surfaced in court on my behalf,
courtesy of my father's friend who paid him to seek
my release in court."
Interestingly, Pastor Ekeh had promised to render
financial assistance to any inmate that would be
released after his visit to the prison. Recently, he
fulfilled his promise when he handed over a cheque
of N200,000 to Miss Mberekpe to enable her start a
new life.
AbleMoJah® Nigeria.
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