3,413 inmates on death row in prisons nationwide, NCS reveals

Spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS), Abubakar Umar, has revealed that there are 3,413 inmates on death row across the prisons nationwide.

Umar who disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja on Friday to give an update on the activities of the service in 2023, put the total number of death row inmates across prisons in Nigeria at 3,413, out of a total number of 77,849 inmates, comprising 76,081 males and 1,768 females as of Monday, December 18, 2023.

He also stated that the total number of awaiting trial inmates was 53,836 comprising 52,512 males and 1,324 females.

“Awaiting trial persons in custody constitute 69 per cent of the total inmate population. This phenomenon is a huge challenge to us,” he said, adding that the service was working towards checking the trend by ensuring speedy trial of suspects.

“This is through the deployment of technology for surveillance and provision of logistics for rapid response in and around custodial facilities,” he explained.

He noted that due to the initiative of the Minister for Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the service was able to trim down the number of inmates in the custodial centres.

“The minister’s initiative ensured the release of 4,086 inmates who had options of fine and compensation.

According to Umar, the year also witnessed an improvement on the treatment regime for inmates, especially in the areas of reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration.

He added that a total of 1,840 inmates sat for the 2023 NECO/SSCE, while many others were undergoing various academic programmes in custodial centres nationwide.

“As you are aware, our partnership with the National Open University of Nigeria is yielding pragmatic results as many inmates are undergoing various academic programmes, including doctoral courses in custody.

“In the area of staff welfare, we are committed to improving the wellbeing of personnel as they are invaluable in achieving service mandates.

“In addition to providing more barracks and office accommodation, we promoted many staff members this year.

“In 2023 alone, we promoted more than 20,000 officers and men. On Thursday, December 22, we decorated a total of 5,014 personnel who were recently promoted. This is in addition to the 17,693 who were elevated earlier in the year.

“We also ameliorated the hardship faced by staff arising from the fuel subsidy removal by rolling out several palliative measures.

“One of such measures was the provision of mass transit buses to convey staff residing in faraway areas to and from work, at no cost,” Umar said.

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