A report has shown that more than 80 percent of prison inmates in the country are awaiting trials, owing to unwholesome criminal justice system in the country.
The report just released by the Centre for Crisis Communication(CCC) to mark its one year of dedicated service to the nation notes that the Nigerian Prisons Service sits at the very heart of Nigeria’s security architecture and should not be toyed with as the agency statutorily responsible for holding convicted offenders.
The Executive Secretary of the Centre, Air Commodore Yusuf Anas (Rtd) who made the report available to the media further said the remaining 20 percent represents convicted prisoners stressing that apart from the convicted offenders, the prisons also provide abode for those who are still awaiting trials for various crimes and offences ranging from pick-pocketing to terrorism.
It observed that apart from the obsolete and debilitating state of most of the prisons, there is an apparent shortage or inadequacy of the holding facilities resulting to congestion and most times over stretched with mostly awaiting trial inmates (ATI).
It called on the authorities to carry out reforms to make prisons across the country more habitable, noting that the staggering ratio of actual convicts to the awaiting trial inmates (ATI) is indicative of a systemic failure in our criminal justice system.
See the detailed info graphic analysis of situation in a few of the prisons that were assessed by the CCC.
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Analysis of 7 Nigerian Prisons depicting year of establishment, location, capacity, population, awaiting trial inmates and convicted inmates as at March, 2016. |
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|
S/No |
Location |
Year of Establishment |
Capacity |
Population |
Awaiting trial |
Convicted |
% of Awaiting Trial inmates |
|
1 |
Ikoyi |
1951 |
800 |
2239 |
1965 |
274 |
88% |
|
2 |
Katsina |
1918 |
238 |
1069 |
997 |
72 |
93% |
|
3 |
Kano Central |
1910 |
690 |
1609 |
942 |
667 |
59% |
|
4 |
Umuahia |
1970 |
400 |
1035 |
993 |
42 |
96% |
|
5 |
Owerri |
1948 |
548 |
2144 |
1983 |
161 |
93% |
|
6 |
Port-Harcourt |
1918 |
804 |
3593 |
3209 |
384 |
89% |
|
7 |
Enugu |
1915 |
638 |
1964 |
1677 |
287 |
85% |
|
Data collated by the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC) |
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