A woman identified as Shobowale Balikis has been intercepted by officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Ogun State Command, for allegedly attempting to smuggle contraband into the Ibara Custodial Centre, Abeokuta.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Odukoya Olayinka, the suspect was intercepted at approximately 3:50 p.m. on Saturday by correctional officers while allegedly attempting to conceal a substance inside a bottled-water pack purportedly meant for an inmate.
The substance, identified as ethanol, was disguised as drinking water. The swift intervention of the officers prevented it from reaching inmates inside the facility.
The suspect has since been handed over to the Nigeria Police for further investigation, with appropriate legal proceedings expected to follow.
The Controller of Corrections, Ogun State Command, Abioye Kamoru Adesina, reiterated the command’s zero-tolerance policy towards smuggling and other activities capable of compromising the security and integrity of custodial facilities.
He said the incident underscored the service’s determination to maintain safety, discipline and order within the correctional system.
The latest arrest is not an isolated incident at the facility. On August 28, the same command arrested another woman, identified as Iyabo Sowunmi, for allegedly attempting to smuggle suspected illicit drugs into the same custodial centre for her son, who is on death row.
She was arrested at approximately 1:33 p.m. during routine screening at the prison’s main entrance.
The two arrests come less than two months after a Nigerian Tribune investigation, co-published with Premium Times, raised serious questions about security breaches at the same facility.
That investigation found that Elijah Oyebode, a convicted murderer serving a death-by-hanging sentence at Ibara, had been operating TikTok Live sessions from inside his condemned cell, interacting with people outside the prison and receiving monetary gifts through the platform.
He also disclosed on a monitored live broadcast that contraband — including mobile phones and drugs — was being smuggled into the facility, and alleged that some correctional officers facilitated the movement of such items.
Following publication of that investigation, the Nigerian Correctional Service issued a formal press release on August 6, 2026, describing the findings as “a serious breach of custodial security and a violation of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act, 2019.”
The Officer-in-Charge of Ibara Custodial Centre was removed from post alongside two other principal officers, the contraband device was seized and secured as a legal exhibit, and Oyebode was transferred to another facility under enhanced security.
The two subsequent arrests suggest that contraband pressure on the facility has continued despite those measures.