64% of Nigeria's Inmates Haven't Been Convicted

Nearly two in three people in Nigeria’s correctional centres haven’t been convicted of anything. Across the system, 80,812 inmates are held, including 51,955 awaiting trial, according to figures Vanguard reported on October 17, 2026. That’s 64 per cent of the population. Another 24,913 are convicted, while 3,850 fall into other detention categories.

The numbers have climbed for years. National Bureau of Statistics data showed unsentenced inmates rising from 47,610 in 2017 to 53,790 in the second quarter of 2025. Total inmate numbers grew from 69,946 to 81,710 over the same stretch. Justice-sector stakeholders blame slow investigations, late legal advice, inadequate representation for indigent defendants and repeated court adjournments. Some people eventually discharged or acquitted spend months or years in custody before a judge decides their case.

A Rights Violation, Ruled and Documented

On May 15, 2026, the ECOWAS Court of Justice ruled that prolonged detention of awaiting-trial inmates, and the overcrowding it causes, violated rights to liberty, dignity, fair hearing, the presumption of innocence and trial within a reasonable time. That was five months ago.

The National Human Rights Commission has flagged the same pattern: prolonged pre-trial detention, arbitrary arrest, torture, denial of access to lawyers and poor detention conditions. Its 2026 statement on torture prevention also cited excessive use of force and allegations of ill-treatment.

Crumbling Buildings, Thin Budgets

Many correctional centres date back decades and now operate far beyond their original capacity. The House Committee on Reformatory Institutions warned that some facilities were built more than a century ago and have deteriorated significantly. A federal investigative panel assessed 86 custodial facilities across 23 states and the Federal Capital Territory, finding infrastructure deficits and security risks in facilities including those in Delta, Edo, Sokoto and Kaduna states. Dilapidated walls, poor ventilation, obsolete security systems and too few vehicles make security and rehabilitation harder.

Funding hasn’t kept pace. Of the ₦14.50 billion capital allocation appropriated to the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) in 2025, the government released only ₦3.22 billion, or 22.2 per cent. That left ₦11.27 billion unreleased. For 2026, the Service proposed a ₦198.85 billion budget, including ₦138.30 billion for personnel and ₦50.40 billion for recurrent overhead, and requested another ₦90.38 billion for capital spending. It also listed ₦30.38 billion in promotion arrears and ₦25.16 billion owed to contractors.

Feeding is a flashpoint. The panel found evidence of inmate malnutrition and alleged abuses in feeding-contract administration, and recommended raising the daily feeding allowance from N750 to N3,000. Vanguard’s August investigation reported complaints from inmates and former inmates about food quantity and quality; correctional authorities denied systemic starvation and defended official arrangements. In 2025, the NCoS said it spent ₦27.28 billion on feeding, with ₦10.75 billion in outstanding food-ration obligations. For 2026, it proposed ₦1,125 per inmate per day to feed an estimated 91,100 inmates.

Corruption and Contraband Inside the Walls

The independent panel is examining allegations of corruption, abuse of power, torture, illegal inmate movements, drug trafficking, unauthorised visits and smuggling. An April report based on panel proceedings detailed allegations that inmates ran businesses, including point-of-sale operations, with officials helping facilitate prohibited activities.

The NCoS says it’s responding. In May, it destroyed 1,167 confiscated mobile phones and other prohibited items, reported recovering ₦2.569 million in smuggled cash and sanctioned 147 officers. In August, an inmate at Ibara Medium Custodial Centre in Abeokuta went live on TikTok using a banned phone. The NCoS removed the officer in charge and two other principal officers pending investigation. Escapes continue too: 16 inmates fled the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Keffi in August 2025.

Rehabilitation on Paper, Not in Practice

A 2019 law, now seven years old, remade the prisons service around reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration. It requires educational and vocational programmes, counselling and income-generating opportunities, and gives the NCoS responsibility for community service, probation, parole and restorative justice. A 2026 study of three medium-security facilities in Kwara State found vocational training fully functional in only one. Digital learning infrastructure was absent or broken in all three, while overcrowding constrained rehabilitation in two.

Only 1,271 Nigerians were serving non-custodial sentences nationwide, figures reported in July showed. The NCoS proposed ₦37.99 billion in 2026 to expand such measures across the 774 local government areas.

The NCoS has begun distributing essential medicines nationwide and is planning broader health-insurance coverage for inmates, though human rights groups still raise concerns about medical access. One separate case showed the stakes. In September, 37 suspected illegal miners died in Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps custody in Niger State, where 67 detainees were reportedly held in one cell. The government suspended 20 personnel and appointed a 10-member committee. The Nigerian Bar Association called for a transparent and independent investigation.

Why This Matters: Most people held in Nigeria’s correctional centres are legally presumed innocent, and many will be released without conviction after losing months or years of their lives. The poorest defendants, who can’t afford lawyers, face the longest wait. The ECOWAS ruling, the human rights commission’s findings and the federal panel’s work all point to the same conclusion: this is a problem of public institutions, not just prison walls. Courts, prosecutors, legal aid and funding releases all feed the pipeline. Reform depends on whether the panel’s findings on procurement, oversight and discipline turn into enforced rules, and whether government releases the money it appropriates. Faster trials, legal representation and wider use of non-custodial sentences would shrink the population; decent food, health care and secure buildings would make detention humane for those who remain.