38,352 inmates awaiting trial —Prisons

A total of 38, 352 inmates currently in Nigerian prisons are awaiting trial, Nigerian Tribune investigation has revealed.
It was also gathered that of the 54, 156 persons locked up behind bars in Nigerian prisons, only 15, 804 were convicted and serving various jail terms.
A document obtained from the headquarters of the Nigeria Prisons Service in Abuja, also indicated that 37, 519 were male convicts while 833 were female.
A top source within the service, who craved anonymity, said this high number of awaiting trial inmates was responsible for prison congestion in the country.
The source also blamed the situation on the slow dispensation of criminal justice in the country, saying many of the inmates had spent seven to 20 years without trial.
He described the trend as dangerous for the country, adding that some of those behind bar were potential rebels because they suffer double jeopardy.

He lamented that the issue of prisons in Nigeria has never gained serious attention of the government as manifested poor funding of the service.

“Countries that are informed do not treat the issue of prisons with a wave of hand. Those behind bar are potentials for rebels because they suffer double jeopardy.

“Many people did not understand the critical importance of prisons to national development, but I can tell you that prison as a service has the responsibility for a special kind of human development.

“We have a duty to ensure that the inmates are trained and properly reintegrated into the society so that they do not relapse to crime which took them into the prisons in the first place. Modern prisons all over the world are correctional homes but not serve as punitive,” the source said.

However, the Controller-General of Prisons, Mr. Zakari Ibrahim, who spoke recently, reiterated his commitment to ensure prisons decongestion working with other relevant stakeholders.

He had appealed to the State Governments to intervene in ensuring that prisons and prisoners in the country were given adequate attention considering the fact that most of those in prisons were as a result of state laws.
Tribune