A Calabar prison inmate (name withheld) who delivered twins last week at the Calabar General Hospital is dead even as prisons authorities debunked allegations in some quarters that the inmate put to bed within the walls of the prison.

The prison authority stated that the woman did not deliver babies in the prison but at the General hospital Calabar where she registered for ante-natal care before putting to birth.

Prisons Public Relations Officer, Cross River State Command, ASP Effangha Etim made the remark while interacting with LEADERSHIP in his office in Calabar

The PRO of Prisons stated that the prisons authority was shocked when it read some reports published in some of the Nigeria dailies that the woman delivered the set of twins’ right in the prisons yard.


Effangha who tried to narrate the woman’s ordeal stated that some of the newspaper reports were false stressing that such reports were not true.

He said, “The Nigerian Prisons Service, Cross-Rivers Command, has received with dismay media reports insinuating that an Awaiting Trial Female (ATF) inmate of Calabar Prison was delivered of twins inside the prison facility.


“The report is not true as the said inmate was remanded by a High Court in Calabar on 5th November, 2018 with six (6) month-old pregnancy for the offence of child stealing.

In his exact words, the PRO said, “While in prison, she had been under regular ante-natal care at the General Hospital, Calabar adding that in April 17, this year, around 1:30pm when her labour began, she was admitted in the same hospital with Cesarean section carried out on her.

Effangha averred that with the intervention of the Cross River state Commissioner of Health, and efforts of the Prison authority to provide the funds needed for the Cesarean section, the said inmate was delivered of twins: a boy and a girl lamenting that the woman died due to complications arising from the Cesarean section.

The prison’s spokesperson added that the woman was subsequently referred to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) for further management, where she gave up a ghost in April 19, this year.


The command’s PRO stated that in the last four (4) years, there has not been any delivery in the Calabar prison infirmary even though the infirmary is well equipped to handle health emergencies that may arise with nine (9) medical experts comprising of a medical doctor, registered nurses/midwives and community health workers, as well as back-up medical personnel stationed in the State Prison Headquarters. Effagha maintained that in situations where emergency goes beyond the infirmary, the prison authority quickly refer the case to government hospitals outside the prison.

In his words Effangha said,”The Nigerian Prisons Service, Cross River state command, is pained over the loss of the said inmate after a combined effort by the prison authority, the Cross River state government and medical personnel in the General Hospital, Calabar.


“Authority of the Calabar prison command, assure the public that the health and welfare of prisoners remain its top priority”. Effangha stressed.