Seven Out Of Ten Inmates in Nigeria’s Custodial Centers Awaiting Trial

An average of seven out of every ten inmates in Nigeria’s 253 custodial centers are awaiting trial, as of last December 18, according to the Nigerian Correctional Service.

The 53,836 awaiting trial inmates represent 69 per cent of 77,849 inmates in the prisons.

The service’s spokesman, Abubakar Umar, said out of 24,013 convicted inmates in the custodial centers, 444 were females, while 3,271 are on death row.

According to Umar, the construction of six mega prison facilities is ongoing in all the geo-political zones.

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He explained that the one in Kano has been inaugurated, while those in Abuja and Port Harcourt are at the completion stage.

According to Rob Allen, a consultant on prison, probation, and youth justice, overcrowding is defined as the percentage of the occupancy rate that is greater than 100 per cent.

The percentage of inmates held by a correctional facility defines the facility’s occupancy rate and how overcrowded it is.

The NCS data shows that Nigeria’s correctional centres have the capacity to hold 50,083 inmates but they currently hold 70,056 inmates.

When the total prison population is expressed as a percentage of the capacity figure, the occupancy rate is 137 per cent.

And based on Allen’s definition of overcrowding, Nigeria’s NCS centres are overcrowded by 37 per cent.

The data also revealed that of the 70,056 inmates at the facility, 50,822 are awaiting trial. That equates to roughly 73% of the total.

While only 19,234 inmates have been convicted, accounting for 27% of the total. As a result, at least 7 out of 10 Nigerian prison inmates are serving time without being convicted.