The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has reported that 53,836 inmates across 253 correctional centres nationwide are awaiting trial as of December 18, News About Nigeria reports.
The spokesperson for the service, Assistant Controller of Corrections (ACC) Abubakar Umar, shared this information with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.
Umar revealed that the total number of inmates in the country, including those convicted and awaiting trial, reached 77,849 during the period under review.
Out of this figure, 24,013 inmates were convicted, with 23,569 being male inmates and 444 being females.
According to Umar, the service has faced several problems including the issue of dilapidated custodial structures, leading to overcrowded and congested spaces within the centres.
To address this problem, the government has recently constructed 3,000 ultra-modern additional custodial facilities across the six geopolitical zones, aimed at decongesting existing centres.
Umar expressed appreciation for the government’s efforts, noting that the facility in Kano has already been inaugurated, and the completion of the remaining facilities is expected soon.
“That of Kano has been inaugurated, and we are expecting speedy completion of the remaining facilities under construction.
“The ongoing construction of Abuja and the Port Harcourt centres had reached completion stages, and they would soon be inaugurated,” he said.
He added that the ongoing construction of Abuja and Port Harcourt centres has reached advanced stages and will be inaugurated shortly.
In recognition of the challenges and to alleviate the situation, the Federal Government contributed N585 million towards settling fines for inmates, aiming to decongest correctional centres across the country.
Additionally, the recent initiative by the federal government to release 4,068 inmates serving various jail terms was acknowledged and praised by the spokesperson.
