Information Seeking Behaviour of Prisoners in Okekura Maximum Security Prison, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Prisoners are socially isolated people with limited access to friends, family, and information. Incidentally, prisons are meant to serve as a form of punishment for crimes. However, the purpose of a prison term is to assist the offender in making amends for their wrongdoing and preparing them for reintegration into society as decent human beings. Okekura, a maximum-security prison in Nigeria, is located in Ilorin, the state capital of Kwara, and inmates in its custody have a wide range of information requests, many of which are delicate and generally unmet. Interpersonal information sources are mostly used due to a combination of inherent bias and limited access to other information sources. When a person seeks and uses information for a variety of purposes, they are engaging in information seeking. It covers people's information demands, wants, and uses, as well as the impacts that information has on their daily lives. This analysis focuses on the information requirements, sources, and challenges those inmates at the maximum prison in Ilorin encountered when attempting to locate and utilize information.