Thread by @zeal_a

A prison visit gave me an idea for a story:
@DrJoeAbah

THREAD!

I heard about the maltreatment & suffering of prisoners and so, the other day I went to a brutal maximum security prison and I voluntarily opted to be locked up for a while for a firsthand experience of their plight

2. While there, I discovered most of the prisoners had absolutely no idea why they were incarcerated & cos they had no idea of the reason for incarceration & neither had advocates to plead their cause, I found many had already served out their sentences yet couldn’t leave

3. I took it upon myself to teach & guide them on why they were there & also taught them how to survive outside prison cos the laws, rules & behavior within the prison aren’t compatible with survival on the outside. Prison behavior exhibited outside, will only get you back in

4.Some of them were very skeptical as it seemed too easy to be true but I told them that the only condition for their release was to trust & believe me & follow the principles I taught. But it was tough as all this ran contrary to everything they learnt & practiced all their life

5. Some of them accused me of being arrogant, self absorbed, biased etc & one in particular was telling other prisoners that I only brought false hope since I was a prisoner like them.

He said:
“If you know so much, why are you in here with us. Prove yourself and free yourself”

6. So I told him “it’s far more important I change the mindset of the prisoners and prepare you for freedom but for you to understand that I’m here voluntarily & can leave when I choose, I will walk out of here and to prove it, come back in 3days and after that leave again”

7. Another said “how can you claim to be kind, acting in our interest & yet be so wicked to condemn us to a life in prison simply because we exercise our freedom of choice & choose not to believe you? How can you on one hand say you want us free but want to condemn us as well?”

8. I answered “look around you!! You are already in prison and I didn’t put you here. I am not here to condemn you my friend, by being here, you are already condemned & Ignoring me leaves you here. I can only bring you freedom & yes it will cost you but the price is cheap & easy”

9. Despite my message & some of the guards knowing my mission, despite my ability to leave whenever I chose, I endured the prison environment, the wickedness of prisoners & some guards; I needed a genuine first hand experience to be certain the freedom I offered was appropriate

10. The experience allowed me get a proper insight into their lives, experiences, pain & desires and so, with my team of lawyers, I knew exactly how to successfully advocate for each of their cases till I obtained warrants of release for EACH & EVERY ONE OF THEM

11. But as you can imagine, only those who believe they can actually get out will ask to use the warrants. Some have their warrants and yet refuse to leave cos they don’t believe they can survive the outside life despite all my assurances to them. Surprisingly, they choose prison

12. Some others test the warrants and actually get out but they don’t follow the instruction I gave for peaceful living outside and so keep getting into trouble with law enforcement and then complain that prison life was more peaceful and then they consider opting to go back.

13. Then, in an awkward twist, some of the lawyers I empowered to get people out started making the prisoners believe that they alone can get them out & then started charging for the services which I had freely given.

They turned my work & suffering into a money making venture

14. They started selling release warrants & in addition, told the prisoners to pay them a percentage of all the earnings they make outside prison for the rest of their lives. They say “it’s to show gratitude to me”. Well, if the prisoners listen to me, they’ll know the truth.

15. All I requested was that everyone who benefits from my work should share with others.

Now some want me to come back & do the work all over again but frankly, there’s no point considering I’ve already done all that needs to be done. ALL are already free if they just choose it

16. Then, rather amazingly, I have some very special friends who listened to me, understood my mission & they leave the prison using their warrants but voluntarily & continually go back to help others out. They understand that while they are in prison, they aren’t of the prison.

17. When prison begins to stress and weigh them down, they leave, recuperate and go back to continue. Doesn’t matter if they get one or a million out, I’m just so impressed at their love, sacrifice and persistence.

End...of part 1