A total of 53,254 inmates are currently awaiting trial in different custodial centres across Nigeria.
This is according to the latest data obtained from the Nigerian Correctional Service.
According to the data, which was last updated on February 24, 2025, the total inmate population stands at 80,100, with 26,846 inmates already tried and convicted.
The staggering number of awaiting-trial inmates further underscore the ongoing concerns about delays in Nigeria’s judicial system and slow dispensation of justice, which is responsible for congestion in correctional facilities.
In January 2025, the Acting Controller-General of the NCoS, Sylvester Nwakuche, pledged to address the avalanche of awaiting trial cases and improve custodial facility management across the country.
At a media parley in January this year, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, said the ministry would release a comprehensive reform plan for the correctional service by October 1.
Tunji-Ojo emphasised that merely auditing inmates and correctional centres was insufficient without strategic reforms to overhaul the system.
“There is no point just auditing inmates or correctional centres without strategic reforms in the Nigerian Correctional Service. The audit should be a product of the reforms in the correctional service.
“We have done the first phase. We have submitted the report and taken action on that. The second phase is currently ongoing.
“By October 1, 2025, the full report on not just about the inmate’s audit but also step by step on what to do to improve the correctional service that will be transformational, correctional,” the minister stated.
