LunagisthubNigeria’s Correctional Facilities: A Call for Reform
The Nigerian government reports that almost 67 percent of individuals confined in correctional facilities across Nigeria are there because they have not been tried in a court of law. This eye-opening figure brings to the front the changes that have to be made in the Nigeria’s correctional services system. Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo of the Interior pointed to the need of cooperation of both the federal and state levels of government in addressing the issues of correctional services .
The figure of inmates waiting for trial is bordering on an astonishing 48,932, and this problem is amplified by the fact that the Nigerian correctional facilities are already operating at the limit of their capacity.
Nearly three-quarters of the inmates in Nigeria’s correctional facilities are state offenders, and this poses a challenge in that the federal government is heavily burdened for the welfare of these offenders.
Tunji-Ojo focused on the need for cooperation of both the federal and state levels of government in solving correctional issues.
Following the issuance of an order to decongest the correctional facilities, the Federal government granted amnesty to 4,550 Offenders in July, 2024. In a bid to both improve the condition of inmates and eliminate congestion in the facilities, the Government is also in the process of working on modern custodial facilities to alleviate issues of congestion .
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