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72% of Nigerian inmates awaiting trial

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By Dawn

Nigeria ranks 8th on a list of over 200 countries with detainees awaiting trial.

The Nigerian Correctional Service is a federally operated agency that oversees all custodial centers in the country. The Service operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior and the Civil Defense, Fire, Immigration and Corrections Board. The Board is a regulatory body that sets policy and provides guidance to the Service.

The Nigerian Correctional Service is responsible for the safekeeping and rehabilitation of offenders sentenced to imprisonment or detention. The Service has a wide range of facilities, which include prisons, detention centers, and juvenile correctional centers. The Service employs a variety of methods to rehabilitate offenders, which include education, vocational training, and religious instruction.

Our criminal justice system is not working efficiently.

As of January 24th, 2022 there were a total of 70,797 inmates enrolled into the correctional system. This means that for every 100,000 people living in Nigeria there is an average of 33 people that are locked up. This number has been gradually increasing over the years, this is largely due to the high crime rates in the country. The total detainee capacity for all of the 240 institutions is 50,153 as of July 2018, which is 46.8% over capacity and not much has changed since.

What is seriously concerning about these numbers is the amount of detained people awaiting trial. A total of 72% of inmates are awaiting trial, meaning that they have not yet been convicted of a crime. This high percentage suggests that our criminal justice system is not working efficiently, and that many people are being held in jail without good reason. It also means that many people are being incarcerated before they have had a chance to prove their innocence. This is a troubling trend, and it is something that we need to address urgently.

Prisoners who are rehabilitated are less likely to reoffend.

The female and juvenile population is low in comparison to the adult male population. Females make up only 1.8% of the prison population and juveniles around 1.7%. This suggests that the adult male detainees represent 97.5% of the total prison population. This could be due to a number of factors such as the fact that males are more likely to commit crimes, that the justice system is biased against males, or that the prison system is designed to meet the needs of females and juveniles. Whatever the reason, the fact that the adult male population is greatly over-represented in prisons is a cause for concern.

Nigeria is one of many countries that believe in the rehabilitation of prisoners. This is the process of restoring a prisoner to full health and citizenship within society. There are many benefits to prisoner rehabilitation. It can help to reduce crime, as former prisoners are less likely to commit crimes again. It can also help to reduce the cost of prisons, as prisoners who are rehabilitated are less likely to reoffend and thus require less monitoring and supervision. Finally, prisoner rehabilitation can help to improve the overall well-being of prisoners, which can lead to a more productive and law-abiding society.

Successful inmates can actually earn a healthy profit.

Inmates can further their education by taking advantage of the many opportunities in learning whatever is available to them while incarcerated. These opportunities include learning about business and trades, as well as farming and livestock. Successful inmates can actually earn a healthy profit, generating enough income to support their family. This provides an environment of success when an inmate returns back to society, setting up people for success will decrease the chance they will reoffend in the future.


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