Delayed justice, crowded cells: Over 80,000 rot in Nigerian prisons

Nigeria's correctional facilities are grappling with severe overcrowding, holding over 80,000 inmates, a situation exacerbated by the large number of individuals awaiting trial. Official statistics reveal that approximately 64% of the custodial population consists of awaiting-trial inmates, highlighting a persistent challenge within the nation's criminal justice system.

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inmates awaiting trial accounted for about 64 per cent of the country’s custodial population, which exceeded 80,000.

Sylvester Nwakuche, the Comptroller-General of Prisons, disclosed in February 2026 that Nigeria's custodial centers housed 80,812 inmates. Of these, 51,955 were awaiting trial, 24,913 were convicted inmates, and 3,850 were under other detention categories. This figure represented an increase from December 2025, indicating that efforts to decongest facilities had not significantly reduced the number of pretrial detainees.

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Ninety-three per cent of our inmates in Nigeria are state offenders. Only seven per cent are federal offenders. Before this administration came on board, many of those in custody were there for minor offences that did not require incarceration.

Further compounding the issue, an audit conducted after the current administration took office in 2023 revealed that a significant portion of inmates were held for offenses under state laws, with many potentially never needing incarceration. Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo stated that 93% of inmates are state offenders, and many were held for minor offenses. Shockingly, an audit found that about 4,000 inmates were imprisoned for fines and compensation orders totaling less than N500,000. The government realized it was spending more than 10 times this amount on feeding some inmates alone.

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an audit conducted after he assumed office in 2023 revealed that about 4,000 inmates were imprisoned over fines and compensation orders of less than N500,000.

In response to these findings, the government implemented a decongestion strategy, releasing several thousand inmates in a single day. While the minister did not specify how many of those released were awaiting trial, this action aimed to alleviate the pressure on custodial centers. Nevertheless, the reality remains that thousands of Nigerians continue to spend months, and often years, behind bars without conviction, underscoring the deep-seated issues of delayed trials and stringent bail conditions within the criminal justice system.

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it was spending more than 10 times the N500,000 benchmark on feeding some inmates alone