The Federal Government says 52,436 inmates are awaiting trial across the correctional facilities in the country, OduNews reports.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Dr Shuaib Belgore, who stated this during the two-day High Conference on Decongestion and Corrections Management in Abuja, the nation’s capital, explained that while 23,071 are convicted persons, 3,322 are condemned inmates on death row.
Belogore also maintained that there has been a steady rise in the population of the custodial centres with at least 80% of the inmates awaiting trial.
According to him, there are 244 custodial centres nationwide, with a 75,507-inmate population, thereby leading to 82 of them being overcrowded.
He also put the figure of the total number of male inmates as 73,821, adding that 1,686 are female inmates.
Belogore also maintained that there has been a steady rise in the population of the custodial centres with at least 80% of the inmates awaiting trial.
On the feeding of the inmates, the Permanent Secretary noted that the current administration will spend N22.4 billion feeding inmates in correctional centres nationwide.
He added that the fund is budgeted for in the 2023 Appropriation Act.
