A Human rights non-governmental organization, Legend Golden Care Foundation has started a definite campaign with stakeholders to discuss the plight of about 53,000 awaiting trial inmates in Nigerian Correctional Centers.
According to statistics, of the 76,189 inmates in Nigeria prisons, about 53,710 , which is about 70% of the inmates, are awaiting trial while many are behind bars for minor offences.
In her remarks at a strategic meeting with stakeholders like the Nigerian Correctional Service, the National Assembly, The Nigeria Bar Association, Legal Aid Council, Media and others, the Executive director of the NGO , Mrs Kanayo Olisa-Metuh, lamented the heartbreaking and helpless situation being faced by thousands of Nigerians awaiting trial in correctional centers across the country. She said that her NGO has been providing basic needs as well as pro-bono legal services to the inmates while lamenting that individuals are serving jail terms for offences they did not commit, with many held for years exceeding the maximum terms for the crimes they were charged.
She called for combined efforts by all stakeholders to eliminate all bottlenecks and ensure faster judicial process as a major step to checking awaiting trail debacle and congestion in the nation’s prisons.
The chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Reformatory Institution, Hon Anayo Edwin, expressed dismay on the issues of overcrowding and lack of adequate facilities in Correctional centers. He said that the National Assembly is working hard to ensure adequate funding and oversight of correctional service in the country.
In his remarks, the assistant controller general of the Nigeria Correctional Service, Mustapha Iliyasu Attah , on behalf of the Controller General, blamed the challenge of awaiting trial on slow judicial process while calling for the acceleration of judicial processes as well as adequate funding of Correctional Services in the country.