By Izunna Okafor, Awka
Barely three weeks after regaining his freedom from the Nnewi Correctional Centre, former Catholic Knight and Nnewi indigene, Mr. James Louis Okoye, popularly known as Akachaam, has opened up on what he described as the ugly experiences he encountered during his stay at the facility, making a series of shocking allegations against the prison authorities over alleged corruption, extortion, poor feeding, diversion of inmates’ donations and mismanagement of welfare items.
Okoye, who was granted bail and released from the correctional facility on Friday, October 9, 2026, after spending 30 days in the Correctional Centre, first announced his return through a video in which he was seen celebrating his freedom.
However, in another video he subsequently recorded, which has gone viral on social media, he made several allegations about the activities of some personnel of the Nnewi Correctional Centre, claiming that inmates were being subjected to different forms of exploitation despite being in government custody.
Recounting his experience, Akachaam described the Nigerian Correctional Service as a dump site, arguing that the change of its former name from Nigerian Prisons Service to Nigerian Correctional Service had only amounted to a mere baptism, as, according to him, the facility was not correcting anything or reforming anybody based on what he witnessed.
Starting with what he described as an arrangement involving ghost workers, Okoye alleged that about 30 per cent of the personnel at the Nnewi Correctional Centre hardly reported for duty but continued to receive their salaries through an arrangement with the leadership of the facility.
He specifically accused one Ikenna Nwogbo, whom he identified as a native of Ukpo in Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State and person in charge of the Nnewi division of the correctional center division, of allegedly collecting 30 per cent of the salaries of the ghost workers involved in the arrangement.
According to him, about four of the alleged ghost workers were even residing outside Nigeria at the moment, yet their names remained on the payroll and they continued to receive salaries despite allegedly not reporting for work.
Speaking further, Akachaam disclosed that the correctional facility housed over 200 inmates, although the number fluctuated from time to time, putting the population at about 199 as of the time he left the centre.
He also accused the authorities of exploiting inmates who needed to communicate with their families, lawyers and other persons outside the facility.
According to him, whenever any inmate wanted to make a call (probably to contact their family members, lawyer or any other person outside the facility), to access the phone, he would pay N1,000 for N200 airtime.
He alleged that even after exhausting the N200 airtime duration, if the inmate wished to continue the call, he would be required to pay another N1,000 for another N200 airtime.
Describing the charge as, exploitative, unfair, and excessive, Okoye suggested that N300 for N200 airtime would be a more reasonable arrangement, rather than the N1,000 he alleged was being collected from inmates each time they wanted to make calls.
He further alleged that inmates were also being shortchanged whenever money was sent to them by family members, friends or other individuals for feeding, legal expenses and other personal needs.
According to him, the officials in charge would always deduct 10% of every amount sent to an inmate before releasing the balance to the intended beneficiary, adding that he was also a victim of the alleged practice during his stay at the facility.
Armed with a bell in his hand, Akachaam invoked the spirit of the land to strike him dead if what he was saying were lies. He, however, also invoked the same spirit to strike dead anybody who would come up to intimidate or suppress him and the truth if what he was saying were true.
On the feeding and general welfare of inmates, Akachaam made another startling allegation, recounting how he once decided to count the grains of the watery beans served to him as breakfast after separating the water from the food.
He said that to his greatest surprise, the total number of beans he counted was only 36 grains, an experience he cited as an indication of the alleged poor feeding arrangements at the correctional centre.
In another allegation, he alleged that food, drinks and other items donated to inmates by churches, philanthropists, foundations, charity organisations and other well-meaning individuals were routinely diverted by some officials of the facility.
According to him, whenever church members, charitable organisations or individuals visited the centre with drinks and food items, including cooked meals prepared based on the number of inmates and sometimes including the number of personnel on duty, the officials would allegedly load most of the items into vehicles immediately after the visitors departed and would transport them to unknown destination in Awka.
He further claimed that donations of detergents, tissue papers, bags of rice, cartons of noodles, yams and other essential items were also allegedly taken away by the officials and transported to supermarkets instead of being distributed to the inmates for whom they were meant.
Based on his alleged experience, Akachaam advised individuals, groups, churches and organisations planning to make donations to inmates at the facility to consider preparing cooked meals and serving them directly to the beneficiaries, as this, according to him, would help ensure that the inmates actually benefited from such gestures.
In another revelation, Okoye disclosed that some of his fellow inmates even allegedly used his name to defraud unsuspecting members of the public while he was in custody, just shortly after he was
He claimed that the inmates contacted people outside the facility, falsely telling them that he had been kept in an underground prison and was desperately seeking assistance, thereby inducing some individuals to donate money in his name.
Akachaam said he was initially unaware of the alleged fraudulent activities until he eventually got wind of the development and discovered that some people had donated money believing they were rendering assistance to him.
He said he reported the matter to the correctional authorities, which allegedly resulted in additional punishment and restrictions being imposed on the inmates involved.
However, he further alleged that even after the inmates eventually returned the money they had collected using his name, the authorities allegedly took possession of the money, while the restrictions imposed on those involved were subsequently lifted.
Another allegation he made concerned a large generator reportedly donated to the Nnewi Correctional Centre by the children of former Anambra State Governor, Dame Virginia Etiaba, during a birthday celebration organised inside the facility for the current First Lady of Anambra State, Mrs. Nonye Soludo.
According to Akachaam, after the people left, the generator donated during the event was allegedly taken to the residence of the Nnewi correctional facility’s leadership in Awka, while a Tiger generator was brought in as a replacement to serve the facility and its inmates.
He further claimed that another large generator which was already available at the correctional centre was also taken to the same residence by the authorities, adding that inmates themselves were the people contributing money for the fueling and servicing of the generator.
Okoye also alleged that the prison officials overseeing the activities at the facility, particularly the leadership, allegedly headed by Ikenna Nwogbo, was making millions of naira monthly from the feeding arrangements for inmates, claiming that the money allocated for their feeding and welfare was being exploited for personal benefit.
In a reaction to these allegations and directive to Nwogbo, whom he accused of being at the centre of some of the alleged practices, Akachaam directed him to give each of the 199 inmates one pack of mineral containing 12 cans, six bathing soaps, two tissue papers and one roll of detergent within 48 hours.
He described the items as restitution for what he alleged had been taken away from the inmates, warning that failure to meet the demand within the stipulated period would compel him to take further action.
He also called for an immediate reduction in the alleged charges for telephone calls, insisting that inmates should not be made to pay N1,000 for N200 airtime when N300 or less would be a fairer amount.
While expressing surprise at what he described as the boldness with which the alleged practices were being perpetrated, Akachaam made reference to Nwogbo’s reported community of origin, Ukpo, which he also identified as the hometown of billionaire businessman and philanthropist, Chief Engr. Arthur Eze.
He vowed to forward the video and his account of the alleged happenings to Chief Engr. Eze, whom he described as a notable philanthropist and generous individual, wondering why someone from the same community would allegedly engage in activities capable of depriving inmates of their basic welfare.
Akachaam further threatened that if his demands were not met within 48 hours, he would team up with the inmates to ensure that the alleged correctional facility commander was sent home.
However, when contacted by this reporter, Izunna Okafor, on Friday, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Anambra State Command, CSC Francis Ekezie, said he was not aware of the video in which the allegations were made.
When this reporter offered to send him the video directly for his assessment and official reaction, Ekezie declined, saying he would search for it himself and watch it to ascertain the allegations.
The correctional service spokesman, however, noted that some people often create different kinds of videos for content and social media purposes, particularly to generate income.
As of the time of filing this report, the P.R.O., the Nnewi Correctional Centre leadership and the individual specifically mentioned and accused in the video by Akachaam had yet to publicly respond to the allegations.
It would be recalled that Okoye (Akachaam) was arrested on September 5, 2026, by local vigilante operatives in Nnewi while carrying out what he described as a spiritual cleansing exercise for the town. His arrest attracted public attention after videos emerged showing him dressed in red, with palm fronds and a bell, moving around parts of the town.
He was subsequently remanded at the Nnewi Correctional Centre for 30 days by the Chief Magistrate Court in Nnewi on September 8, following an ex parte application by the Commissioner of Police over allegations of conspiracy and cybercrime arising from WhatsApp voice notes in which he (Akachaam) allegedly accused one Mr. Innocent Okoli of being responsible for kidnapping incidents in Nnewi and surrounding communities. The remand was to allow the police conclude investigations and forward the case file to the Anambra State Attorney-General for legal advice.
His release on bail on October 9 has now been followed by the fresh allegations, with Akachaam calling for urgent intervention in what he described as the deplorable conditions and alleged corrupt practices at the Nnewi Correctional Centre, which he said he found the need to bring to the public attention, based on what he experienced there.
Watch the second video below:
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