24th July, 2021
By Taiwo Okanlawon
The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has revealed a shocking fact about the number of Nigerian men in prison.
Aregbesola stated that the total number of inmates in Nigeria stands at 68,747.
However, 67,422 are males while 1,325 are females.
This could back up the claim that “Many parents raised their daughters and let the boys raise themselves.”
Back to the report by Aregbesola.
The minister revealed the details of Nigerian inmates while commissioning the Osun State Command office complex of the Nigerian Correctional Service, in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State.
Aregebesola said the federal government had sought the cooperation of state governments in dealing with the challenges of prison congestion.
He, however, called on governors to sign the death warrant of 3,008 inmates on death row at custodial facilities across the country to curtail the overpopulation in custodial facilities.
He said: “There are presently 3,008 condemned criminals waiting for their date with the executioners in our meagre custodial facilities.”
The minister disclosed that the entire national custodial facilities have a maximum capacity of 57,278 inmates, but the current count, a total population of 68,747 inmates.
“But I must add that the congestion is an urban phenomenon limited to big cities like Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and others. There are facilities in non-urban areas that are underpopulated.
“It is in the urban areas that most of the crimes are committed and relevant courts are located, leading to the overstretching of the custodial facilities located in such cities,” Aregbesola noted.
Giving the clear status of inmates in the correctional centres across the country, Aregbsola noted that 50,992 inmates represent 74 percent of the total population of inmates awaiting trial while only 17,755 inmates which is mere 26 percent are actual convicts.
“The challenges of safe and effective custody at the custodial centres come therefore from the awaiting trial inmates, given their numerical strength.
The Minister, said the overwhelming majority of offenders are state offenders being tried by their respective State Governments.
“The State Governments can therefore do three things. The first is to accelerate the wheel of justice. The second way the states can share in the burden of decongesting custodial facilities is to join in the building of holding centers.
“The third way is for State Governors to summon the will to do the needful on death row convicts. There are presently 3,008 condemned criminals waiting for their date with the executioners in our meager custodial facilities,” he stated.
Aregbesola, however, said the state governors could also in the alternative set some of the condemned inmates free on compassionate ground, especially those who have grown old on account of the long time they have been in custody and those that are terminally ill.
He added that those that have been reformed and demonstrated exceptionally good behavior could also be released or commute their sentences to life or specific terms in jail.