Woman caught sneaking drugs to death row son

By Anuoluwa Amao

The Nigerian Correctional Service says the attempt unraveled on Friday, August 28, when Mrs Iyabo Sowunmi arrived at the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Ibara and was flagged during standard entry screening. Hidden inside what looked like an ordinary sachet of beverage powder, officers found what they suspect was “colos” a psychoactive synthetic drug that has increasingly turned up in trafficking cases across the country.

NCoS spokesperson Olayinka Odukoya, detailing the incident in a Monday statement, said the package had been intended for Dare Sowunmi, Mrs Sowunmi’s son, who is currently on death row at the facility. The discovery, made at roughly 1:33 p.m., led officers to detain her on the spot. She has since been transferred to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, which will handle the case going forward under standard protocol between the two agencies.

Ogun State’s Controller of Corrections, Abioye Adesina, held up the arrest as proof that the command’s screening procedures are working as intended, commending the officers for catching the attempt before it succeeded. He used the moment to reiterate the service’s hardline stance on contraband, framing custodial facilities as spaces built around rehabilitation and public safety principles he said drug smuggling directly threatens.

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“Our custodial facilities exist to ensure public safety, reformation, and rehabilitation. We maintain an absolute zero-tolerance policy for drug trafficking or any illegal acts designed to compromise security,” Adesina said, adding that anyone caught attempting similar smuggling in the future would face immediate legal consequences.

The command closed out its statement with a broader appeal to the public, urging visitors and families of inmates to respect the rules governing custodial centres a reminder, officials say, that no relationship, however close, justifies compromising facility security.