There were 74,872 prisoners housed in the nation’s 244 prisons and detention facilities as of April 17, 2023.
At least 4,204 people have been taken to detention institutions around the country of the Nigerian Correctional Service in the past four months.
This is in accordance with the information on the NCoS website on Sunday.
The number of prisoners increased by 4,204 between April and July, according to the website.
A check on Sunday revealed there are currently 79,076 prisoners.
54,171 of the detainees are still awaiting trial, and 24,905 have already been found guilty.
The report also showed that out of the prisoners, 24,461 were men and 444 were women.
Security analyst Chidi Omeje stated that the rise in prisoners signalled a rise in crime in the nation, suggesting that it may be related to the country’s increasing poverty.
Omeje observed that “The data imply that there is a spike in criminality.
“I will blame this on bad governance because it gives rise to poverty which leads to criminality. Across the states, governors are interested more in buying luxury cars, among others. All the geopolitical zones are facing terrorism, kidnapping, banditry, or attacks on maritime assets.”
Ogonna Okeke, the coordinator for social justice and prison welfare, lamented the large number of prisoners, blaming it on the delayed judicial system in the nation.
Okeke clarified that “Our judicial system is quite slow. Cases linger in our court endlessly; we have inmates awaiting trial for four years, and 10 years and some even await trial for years longer than the sentence prescribed for the crime for which they were charged.
“There are issues of trials starting de novo when a judge retires, dies or is transferred. Imagine a case that has been on for three years and the judge dies or retires, the case will start afresh. There are also cases of missing court records and files because of the manual processes, which also slows down a case.”
She pushed for the use of non-custodial sentences for infractions of a lesser kind.
Okeke stated:
“People do not need to be incarcerated for petty crimes. Community services, parole, probation and others should also be adopted.”
cc: Punch Ng
