53,836 Inmates Awaiting Trial Nationwide, Says Nigerian Correctional Service

The Nigerian Correctional Service, NCoS, says 53,836 inmates in the 253 correctional centres across the country are awaiting trial as of December 18.

The spokesperson of the service, Assistant Controller of Corrections (ACC) Abubakar Umar made this revelation to newsmen in Abuja on Thursday.

Umar said the summary of the inmates across the country by conviction and those on the awaiting trial list was 77,849 within the period under review.

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He said the total number of convicted inmates was 24,013, stressing that the convicted male inmates are 23,569 and 444 convicted are females.

“Statistics shows that 69 per cent of the inmates in Custodial Centres are awaiting trial while 31 per cent are convicted inmates,” he said.

According to him, one of the challenges of the service was the issue of dilapidated custodial structures which resulted in overcrowded and congested spaces within the centres.

The spokesman said the government has recently constructed 3,000 ultra-modern additional custodial facilities across the six geopolitical zones to decongest existing centres.

He said the initiative would help in decongesting the centers as well as enhance the welfare and the health of the inmates.

“That of Kano has been inaugurated and we are expecting speedy completion on the remaining facilities under construction,” he said.