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Tag: Awaiting trial inmates

  • Awaiting trial inmates

    Awaiting trial inmates

    It’s an old issue that has refused to go away. “Overcrowding, no doubt, stands out as the most pressing challenge of the NCoS,” the Acting Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Sylvester Nwakuche, noted during an interactive session with field officers on January 13.  He said 48,932 inmates in the country’s correctional facilities were Awaiting Trial Persons (ATPs), many of them “on non-bailable offences.”

    He unveiled his plans to tackle the problem, saying, “I intend to interface with the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, the inspector-general of police, and other prosecuting-agencies and critical stakeholders to fast track the trial of these inmates. This is necessary, especially those on non-bailable offences like armed robbery, murder, and others that constitute over 60 percent of awaiting trial persons (ATPs).”

    He added: “While engaging state chief executives to expedite the trial of the over 90 percent state offenders in custody, the use of non-custodial measures and early release mechanisms will be taken up with the judiciary. We will also fast-track the construction of proposed 3,000-capacity ultramodern custodial facilities and other centres across the country.”

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    Notably, Segun Olowookere, who controversially spent 14 years on death row before he was recently pardoned by Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, drew attention to prison conditions in the country in an interview published after his release.

    He was sentenced to death and life imprisonment for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and robbery with firearms, and to three years imprisonment for stealing. But the popular narrative that he was given a death sentence for stealing fowls ultimately led to pardon by the governor. 

    He was in Ilesa prison, Osun State, “throughout the trial of the case.” After the judgment, he was moved to Ibara Prison, Abeokuta, Ogun State. He was later moved to Kirikiri Maximum Prison in Lagos, in 2016.

     According to him, “The major challenge was congestion. There were too many people inside a limited space. Because of the population, 50 inmates would occupy a room that should naturally contain a maximum of 10 people. We sleep like fishes packed in a carton because everywhere is measured for us. As an inmate, a space is measured for you to sleep because of congestion.”

    •First published January 29, 2025

  • Awaiting trial inmates

    Awaiting trial inmates

    It’s an old issue that has refused to go away. “Overcrowding, no doubt, stands out as the most pressing challenge of the NCoS,” the Acting Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Sylvester Nwakuche, noted during an interactive session with field officers on January 13.  He said 48,932 inmates in the country’s correctional facilities were Awaiting Trial Persons (ATPs), many of them “on non-bailable offences.”

    He unveiled his plans to tackle the problem, saying, “I intend to interface with the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, the inspector-general of police, and other prosecuting-agencies and critical stakeholders to fast track the trial of these inmates. This is necessary, especially those on non-bailable offences like armed robbery, murder, and others that constitute over 60 percent of awaiting trial persons (ATPs).”

    He added: “While engaging state chief executives to expedite the trial of the over 90 percent state offenders in custody, the use of non-custodial measures and early release mechanisms will be taken up with the judiciary. We will also fast-track the construction of proposed 3,000-capacity ultramodern custodial facilities and other centres across the country.”

    Read Also: FCT police, DSS, military activate joint patrols to curb kidnapping, one chance

    Notably, Segun Olowookere, who controversially spent 14 years on death row before he was recently pardoned by Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, drew attention to prison conditions in the country in an interview published after his release.

    He was sentenced to death and life imprisonment for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and robbery with firearms, and to three years imprisonment for stealing. But the popular narrative that he was given a death sentence for stealing fowls ultimately led to pardon by the governor. 

    He was in Ilesa prison, Osun State, “throughout the trial of the case.” After the judgment, he was moved to Ibara Prison, Abeokuta, Ogun State. He was later moved to Kirikiri Maximum Prison in Lagos, in 2016.

     According to him, “The major challenge was congestion. There were too many people inside a limited space. Because of the population, 50 inmates would occupy a room that should naturally contain a maximum of 10 people. We sleep like fishes packed in a carton because everywhere is measured for us. As an inmate, a space is measured for you to sleep because of congestion.”

    •First published January 29, 2025

  • ‘Many awaiting trial inmates need lawyers’

    The Nigerian Prisons Service, (NPS) yesterday expressed disappointment that the over 80 percent Awaiting Trial inmates across the country are not given enough legal representation in court.

    Spokesman of NPS, Francis Enobore, spoke in Abuja at a seminarin collaboration with the Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), and the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, (LACON).

    These bodies supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British Government have been involved in training and retraining of paralegal officers as well as provision of free services for easy access to legal representation for indigent persons.

    Of the total prison population of about 73, 000, 48, 798 are Awaiting Trial inmates. 70, 123 are male while 1, 399 are female.

    Convicted male inmates number stands at 22, 388 while the number of convicted female inmates is 336 bringing the total of convicted inmates to 22, 724.

    Enobore, who was represented by Samaila Bulus of the service’s Public Relations Unit, said: “ However, it is important that we put fellow Nigerians behind these fingers in order to appreciate the pains and mental toture they pass through daily. While it is beyond the scope of this discussion to X-ray the reason for this unfortunate development, it suffices  to mention that quite a number of persons languish in prison custody as Awaiting Trial detainees because they can’t afford legal representation.

    “ It is therefore behold on us as a people to assist these indigent citizens with pro bono legal representation in order to salvage their unfortunate situation.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari has continued to drive the course of prison decongestion through the National Stakeholders Committee on prison Reform and decongestion under the able leadership of his lordship the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) Chief Judge Hon. Justice Ishaq Bello.

    “ As the committee visits prisons, several prisoners are being released while cutting down the bureaucracies impeding quick justice dispensation. Significantly, this singular approach also help to reduce tension in the yard as inmates now have a sense of belonging that they have not been totally abandoned by the government.”

    PRAWA Executive Director Mrs. Uju Agomoh said there was also a strong need for new legislation targeted at mentally-ill persons to replace what he described as grossly outdated and regressive Lunacy Act of 1956.

    Others areas for development according to Agomoh included the establishment of a database management system and a gender policy for the prisons service.

     

  • ‘Over 80 percent of awaiting trial inmates need legal representation’

    The Nigerian Prisons Service, (NPS) on Thursday expressed disappointment that the over 80 percent Awaiting Trial inmates across the country are not given enough legal representation in court.
    Spokesman of NPS, Francis Enobore who said this in Abuja at a seminal in collaboration with the Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), and the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, ( LACON).
    These bodies supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British Government has been involved in training and retraining of paralegal officers as well as provision of Pro Bono services for easy access to legal representation for indigent persons.
    Out of the total prison population of about 73, 000, findings revealed that 48, 798 are Awaiting Trial inmates. 70, 123 are male while 1, 399 are female.
    Convicted male inmates number stands at 22, 388 while the number of convicted female inmates is 336 bringing the total of convicted inmates to 22, 724.
    Enobore who was represented by Samaila Bulus of the service Public Relation Unite said: ” However, it is important that we put fellow Nigerians behind these fingers in order to appreciate the pains and mental toture they pass through daily. While it is beyond the scope of this discussion to X-ray the reason for this unfortunate development, it suffices  to mention that quite a number of persons languish in prison custody as Awaiting Trial detainees because they can’t afford legal representation.
    ” It is therefore behold on us as a people to assist these indigent citizens with pro bono legal representation in order to salvage their unfortunate situation.
    “President Muhammadu Buhari has continued to drive the course of prison decongestion through the National Stakeholders Committee on prison Reform and decongestion under the able leadership of his lordship the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) Chief Judge Hon. Justice Ishaq Bello.
    ” As the committee visits prisons, several prisoners are being released while cutting down the bureaucracies impeding quick justice dispensation. Significantly, this singular approach also help to reduce tension in the yard as inmates now have a sense of belonging that they have not been totally abandoned by the government.”
    Executive Director of PRAWA, Mrs. Uju Agomoh said there is also a strong need for new legislation targeted at mentally ill person to replace what he described as grossly outdated and regressive Lunacy Act of 1956.
    Others areas for development according to Agomoh included the establishment of a database management system and a gender policy for the prisons service.

  • Lagos ‘has highest number’ of awaiting trial inmates

    The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Lagos State has the highest number of awaiting trial inmates based on the 2015 data from prison population.

    The NBS made this known in a report on “Number of Un-Sentenced Detainees and Overall Prison Population by State and Year (2011-2015),” released in Abuja on Friday.

    The report said Lagos recorded 5,603 awaiting trial inmates out of a prison population of 6,522, followed by Rivers and Edo with 3,625 and 2,434, respectively.

    “Conversely, Yobe and Borno States had the least numbers of 163 and 216 out of a prison population of 562 and 603, respectively,” the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the Bureau as saying in the report.

    “Of the 36 states of the federation, Lagos State had the highest prison population in the country with 6,522 inmates, closely followed by Kano and Rivers with populations of 4,082 and 4,054, respectively.

    “The overall prison population in the country for 2015 was 62,260 as against 56, 059 in 2014.”

    According to the report, the rise in prison population in 2015 represents about 11.06 per cent growth compared to the overall prison population in 2014.

  • Lagos CJ frees another 47 prison inmates

    Lagos CJ frees another 47 prison inmates

    Another batch of 47 awaiting trial inmates were on Tuesday granted freedom from Ikoyi Prison by the Lagos State Chief Judge, Justice Ayotunde Phillips.

    This brought to 279 the number of prison inmates freed by Justice Phillips.

    233 inmates had earlier been set free by the chief judge during her maiden visit to Kirikiri Maximum and Medium Prisons on September 18.

    Justice Phillips told the freed inmates that the gesture was in fulfillment of her pledge to decongest the state prisons.

    “The inmates that secured their freedom today are those who had spent more than the period they ought to have spent awaiting trial,” Justice Phillips told journalists at the Ikoyi prison.

    According to the chief judge, the freedom granted the inmates was in pursuant of the powers conferred on her under Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Justice Release from Custody Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2007.

    She admonished the freed inmates to be of good behaviour henceforth and to “sin no more.”

    “I have a magnetic and very retentive brain. So, I would remember any of you if I come across your name again,” she told them.

    Earlier, the Deputy Comptroller of Prisons, Mr. Emmanuel Bamidele, who noted that stigmatization of former prisoners had remained a major obstacle, assured members of the society that those set free would not pose any problem as they had undergone genuine reformation and rehabilitation process.

    “Therefore to settle down for something meaningful after release may not constitute worry provided the society allowed them a second chance.

    “Nevertheless, let me assure my Lord and other people here that you will never regret the bold and laudable action taken today,” he said.