70 Percent Of Nigeria’s Prison Population Still Awaiting Trial - Nigeria Prisons Officer

Prison Inmates in Nigeria - Premium Times

A spokesman for The Nigerian Prisons Service has stated that of the 56,785 inmates in Nigerian prisons, only 17, 775 had been convicted with the rest awaiting trial according to a Premium Times report.

Public Relations Officer of Nigeria Prisons Service, Ope Fatinikun, made the statements at a media briefing and explained that the prisons system was suffering from inadequate budgetary allotment from the federal government.

Fatinikun also stated that 10 babies with their mothers, 947 male juvenile offenders and 151 foreigners were included in the total count as residents of the congested prison system.

“Our prisons need to be reconstructed as some of them are in deplorable states. The prisons need to be completed especially the ones where construction started over thirty years ago,” Fatinikun said.

Spokesman Fatinikun also said that the prison system was lacking in adequate weaponry and operational provisions in light of serious security threats to the prison system.

“Our facilities have been attacked and burnt down and a total of 46 prisons officers comprising 42 serving and four retired personnel have been killed since the inception of the (Boko Haram) insurgency,” he said.

Source:

Premium Times