A female visitor has been arrested at the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Ibara, Abeokuta, Ogun State, after she was allegedly caught attempting to smuggle a substance suspected to be “Colos” to a death row inmate.
The suspect, identified as Mrs Iyabo Sowunmi, was reportedly apprehended on Friday, August 28, 2026, during routine screening at the facility’s main entrance.
According to the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), the substance was concealed inside a sachet of Milo beverage powder. Officers reportedly detected the suspicious package during the screening process.
The intended recipient was identified as Dare Sowunmi, a death row inmate at the facility. The NCoS said the woman was subsequently detained and handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for investigation and possible prosecution.
The Ogun State Command spokesperson of the NCoS, Odukoya Olayinka, confirmed the incident and said the interception demonstrated the importance of security checks at custodial facilities.
The Controller of Corrections in Ogun State, Abioye Kamoru Adesina, commended the officers involved and warned that attempts to introduce drugs or other prohibited items into correctional centres would attract legal consequences.
The latest incident comes shortly after a major security controversy at the same Ibara facility involving another death row inmate, Elijah Oyebode, who was found to have been using a prohibited mobile phone to conduct TikTok livestreams from custody.
The Nigerian Correctional Service subsequently recovered the phone and transferred Oyebode to another facility under tighter security. The officer in charge of the Ibara centre and two other senior officers were also removed from their positions pending investigation into the security breach.
The NCoS has maintained that it operates a zero-tolerance policy towards the introduction of drugs, mobile phones and other contraband into correctional facilities.
The latest arrest is expected to be investigated by the NDLEA, which will determine the nature of the substance recovered and whether it constitutes an offence under Nigeria's drug laws.
The suspect remains entitled to the presumption of innocence until the allegations against her are established in court.
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