Experts task 5 states on prisons decongestion

Given the burgeoning inmates population in prison cells in of five states in the country, criminal justice administration experts have called on governors and judicial heads in the affected states to act in decongesting the facilities.

Figures made available by the spokesman of the Nigerian Prison Service (NSC), Francis Enabore, revealed that the five states - Rivers, Lagos, Imo, Kano and Katsina - have inmates far above the capacity built for their prisons.

These states take a huge 16 per cent chunk from the country’s 69,000 total inmates - 11,441 inmates.

For instance, the Port Harcourt Maximum Security Prison in Rivers State, built for 804 inmates now has 3,827 inmates. Out of this, 3,394 are awaiting trial while 433, representing approximately 13 per cent, are the actual convicts serving various terms.

The Ikoyi Prison in Lagos State has a total population of 2,315 inmates in an 800 capacity facility. Of this, 1,977 inmates are awaiting trial while 338, representing 17 per cent of the total population, are convicts.

The Owerri Prisons in Imo State is overflowing with about 2,300 inmates for a facility with installed capacity of 548 inmates. Out of this figure, only 160 persons, seven per cent of the inmates are convicts, while 2,140 are awaiting trial.

The Kano Prisons built for 690 inmates, is currently filled up with 1,778 inmates. Only 717, being 40 per cent of the inmates are actual convicts out of 1,061 awaiting trial inmates.

The fifth most congested prison in Nigeria, the Katsina Prison has a total of 1,221 inmates in a facility built for 238. Of this figure, 1,072 are awaiting trial while only 149 inmates, being 13 per cent of the total inmates, are convicts.

On the basis of these figures, the overall percentages of awaiting trial inmates are: Port Harcourt 88.6 per cent; Ikoyi 85.3; Owerri 93 per cent; Kano 59.6 per cent and Katsina 87.7 per cent.

Over congestion in Nigerian prisons has been a major issue in the criminal administration system of the country. According to experts, physical and sanitary conditions in these prisons are deplorable and unconstitutional and rehabilitation programmes are inadequate.

Worried by the development, the coordinator of the Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE), Sylvester Uhaa, on February 2, wrote to the Chief Judge of Rivers State seeking for urgent intervention in the decongestion of the prison in Port Harcourt.

“Your Lordship, this situation poses significant health, economic and social consequences for the inmates, their families and the entire society,” he wrote. “In addition, the overcrowding of the prison constitutes a serious security threat to the host community, the prison officials and the state at large in case of any riot or jail break.”

A former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Ondo State and human rights lawyer, Mr Olawale Fapounda, said the National Human Rights Commission, the Legal Aid Council and several penal reform groups have consistently identified that prison facility as one of the worst prison facilities in Nigeria.

“A major problem is the transportation infrastructure of the prisons. There are limited functional vehicles. Access to court by inmates was therefore a challenge. Rehabilitation programmes especially in the area of hands-on vocational training was virtually non-existent. In any case, delivering such a programme given the overcrowded state of the prisons will have been difficult,” he said.

An Abuja-based human rights lawyer, Barr Hamid Ajibola, while deploring the congestion in Nigerian prisons, called on state governors to use the instrument of executive pardon to decongest the prisons.

He also called on NGOs, the NYSC, well-meaning individuals in the society to engage the services of pro bono lawyers for free legal services to qualified inmates and to pay fines of as low as N2,000 for inmates to enable them regain their freedom.

The expectation is that the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) and other measures will be adopted to ensure urgent reforms in the prisons.