A report by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) has revealed that controversial crossdresser Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju, aka Bobrisky, spent only three weeks of his sentence in prison, with the remainder in a secret location.
The crossdresser was sentenced to six months imprisonment by Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Lagos, on April 12 this year, for Naira abuse. Bobrisky was released from prison on August 5, after completing his prison term.
On Tuesday, September 24, a social media influencer, Martins Vincent Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), posted an audio-visual clip in which Bobrisky was alleged to have claimed that he spent his sentence in a private residence, influenced by his godfather.
He also alleged that operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were compromised with N15 million to drop the ‘money laundering’ charge against him.
According to the FIJ report, while Bobrisky was indeed taken to Kirikiri prison in April after his sentence, he disappeared from the facility after about three weeks.
The report alleged that Bobrisky was treated like a president for the three weeks he spent in prison before he was moved out.
“Bob spent only three weeks here with us in Kirikiri before he was taken out to another place we don’t know,” a prison official told FIJ. “That was where he spent his time; it was an ‘arrangee thing.’ And money was involved.”
The source also told FIJ how Bobrisky was “guarded like a president” until he was “secretly taken away after three weeks.”
“He received VIP treatment all through,” said the source. “He lived in a special cell. The money he said he paid is actually true; no lies. Yes, he paid the money.”
Minister of Interior has since ordered investigation of the allegations, and already some senior officials of the Nigeria Correctional Service involved in the case have been suspended to pave way for proper investigation.