54,141 inmates await trial in Nigeria, according to Data obtained from Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS).
The number represents 69 per cent of inmates in the nation’s prisons.
To await trial means the court has yet to pass its final verdict on the crime committed. Hence, the alleged criminal is remanded until a judgment is passed.
The data show that as of December 11, 2023, the number of inmates was 78,446, of which 24,305 had been convicted.
The number of inmates increased by 2,937 in December 2023 from 75,509 reported in December 2022.
By gender, the total number of male inmates is 76,670, while females are 1,776.
According to a report, at least 1,317 people have been pardoned by the federal and state governments between January 2022 and early December 2023.
Last month, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, flagged off the release of 4,068 inmates sentenced to various terms with the option of a fine.
According to Ojo, as of November 17, 2023, there were about 80,804 inmates in 253 custodial facilities nationwide, which could hold not more than 50,000.
He said, “The Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kuje, where 37 of the beneficiary inmates were released, has the installed capacity to hold 560 inmates, but currently, a total of 730 inmates are being held there.”
Ojo equally called on the United Nations to support the country’s efforts at reforming its correctional service and decongesting its custodial facilities, adding that only five per cent of inmates in the correctional centres could be released with the N585 million it had raised from philanthropic individuals, groups, and corporate bodies to release the inmates.
