By Mario Deepromoter

Nigerian transgender, Okuneye Olanrewaju, popularly known as Bobrisky, reportedly spent less than a month in prison following a six-month sentence for naira abuse in April, according to a report by FIJ.

On Tuesday, social media personality Martins Vincent Otse, known online as VeryDarkMan, shared a recorded phone conversation in which Bobrisky allegedly admitted to serving the majority of her sentence outside of prison.

She also claimed to have paid N15 million to have the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) drop charges of ‘money laundering’ against her.

These revelations have reignited discussions about corruption within Nigerian prisons. In response, Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has ordered “a thorough and unconditional investigation into the allegations of bribery and corruption within the Nigerian Correctional Service.”

Sources close to the situation informed FIJ on Thursday that while Bobrisky was initially taken to Kirikiri prison after her sentencing in April, she left after only three weeks and was officially released in August.

‘Guarded Like a President’

An official from Kirikiri prison shared with FIJ, “Bob spent only three weeks here with us in Kirikiri before she was taken out to another place we don’t know. That was where she spent her time; it was an ‘arrangee thing’. And money was involved.”

The source added that Bobrisky was “guarded like a president” until she was quietly removed from the prison.

“She received VIP treatment all through,” the source continued. “She lived in a special cell. The money she said she paid is actually true; no lies. Yes, she paid the money.”

These claims align with a 2019 undercover investigation by FIJ founder ‘Fisayo Soyombo, where he intentionally got himself arrested and imprisoned, exposing the fact that it was possible to bribe prison officials for privileges such as living in furnished cells, bringing in contraband items, and even avoiding the prison sentence entirely.

Video Call Incident with Bobrisky

The source also recounted a notable incident during Bobrisky’s time at Kirikiri. While prison authorities kept her isolated from other inmates, one event stood out.

“There was this day one guy was on a video call with his girlfriend, and he suddenly turned the camera on Bobrisky,” the official shared. “It was deemed an invasion of Bobrisky’s privacy, so, as punishment, he was locked up in his cell for nearly two months.”

The source added, “As I said, she was heavily guarded, so there weren’t many of such incidents to point at. And she was quietly taken away after three weeks.”

James Brown’s Visit to Bobrisky?

After Otse released the audio recording, social media users began questioning whom James Brown, another well-known crossdresser, visited in Kirikiri prison when she claimed to have visited Bobrisky on June 8.

“By the time James visited,” Bobrisky was no longer in prison, a source from James’ camp revealed to FIJ on Thursday.

“James went there to see one guy called Vindicate who had invited her to collaborate on recording a song from prison. The prison authorities liked the idea of a song recorded from prison, so they let her come.”

No Denial from the Prison Service

As of now, the Nigerian Correctional Service has not publicly denied or confirmed the claims that Bobrisky did not fully serve her jail term at Kirikiri.

However, on Thursday night, the Interior Ministry announced that two deputy controllers of corrections (DCCs) in charge of the medium-security custodial center at Kirikiri, Michael Anugwa and Sikiru Adekunle, had been suspended “over their unprofessional conduct in handling the case of Nigerian crossdresser Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky.”

Ja’afaru Ahmed, the secretary of the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board, announced that the suspension was necessary to allow for further investigation.

One of the renowned singers in Greece found herself in the intensive care unit on Thursday following a stroke during her performance at the historic Odeon theatre in Athens, located under the Acropolis.

Videos taken from the audience’s viewpoint captured the moment when folk singer Marinella, aged 86, fell on stage during a tribute concert on Wednesday at the Roman-era Odeon of Herodes Atticus.

The hospital announced on Thursday that she had experienced a “severe vascular stroke” and was receiving intensive care.

Marinella has had a career that has lasted for more than six decades.

She was the Greek representative in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, which was won by ABBA with the song ‘Waterloo’.

Renowned Nigerian Singer and activist, Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz, has confirmed that he had contact with controversial social media personality, Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky, in relation to legal issues Bobrisky faced earlier this year.

He also said that Bobrisky begged him for N3m to secure a VIP section at the Correctional Centre.

This clarification comes on Wednesday after Falana’s legal team, Falana & Falana Chambers, issued a letter to Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, demanding the retraction of defamatory statements made against Falz.

According to the letter, the controversial social media post suggested that Falz had conspired with Bobrisky to “pervert the course of justice” by assisting him financially to secure a favourable outcome for his legal troubles.

In the letter dated September 26, 2024, Falz’s lawyer, Taiwo E. Olawanle, outlined the sequence of events, explaining that while Bobrisky had indeed reached out to Falz for advice, Falz firmly rejected the notion of providing financial assistance, insisting that no payments were necessary.

The letter read, “Your publication of September 25, 2024, on your Instagram page captioned “In everything and everyone that is mentioned here, I will be disappointed if truly FALZ and his father are involved in this whole Bobrisky issue…” has been drawn to our notice wherein you made some defamatory statements against our client.

“To set the records straight, our client never at any point initiated a conversation with Mr Idris Okuneye. Our client has documentary evidence that Mr. Idris was in fact the one who initiated a call.

“Specifically, on the 4th of May 2024, Mr Idris Okuneye (AKA Bobrisky) contacted our client requesting a phone conversation with him. Our client gratuitously obliged, having knowledge of the Naira abuse charges leveled against him, and genuinely believing he might require legal advice.

“Mr Idris Okuneye (Aka Bobrisky) called shortly after but instead of soliciting legal advice, stated that he was in distress and needed financial assistance of about N3,000,000 (Three million Naira) which he claimed he needed to pay some officials to be permitted to stay in the VIP section of the Correctional Centre.”

The letter added, “Our client, in the same conversation, advised him that there was no need to pay the officials of the Correctional Centre any money. However, Mr Idris Okuneye (Aka Bobrisky) stated that his lawyers had messed up his case by asking him to plead guilty to the charges filed against him. Mr Idris Okuneye (Aka Bobrisky) insisted on his request for the money which our client continuously disapproved.

“Without contacting our client, you went ahead to publish a careless statement containing multiple allegations including an insinuation that our client is involved in a homosexual affair and intended to get a presidential pardon for Mr Idris Okuneye.”

Falana & Falana Chambers demanded an immediate retraction of the defamatory statements and a public apology to be issued across all platforms where the accusations were disseminated. The letter warned that failure to comply within 24 hours would result in legal action, including a claim for monetary damages for the harm caused to Falz’s reputation.

A viral video shared by VeryDarkMan revealed Bobrisky’s allegation that unnamed EFCC officers collected N15 million from him to drop money laundering charges.

Bobrisky has, however, denied the bribery allegations. The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, also ordered an immediate investigation into the matter.