By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA–A panel that was mandated to carry out extensive audit of all the prisons in the country, on Wednesday, submitted its report to the Federal Government.
Report of the audit exercise which was conducted from January 13 to March 14, 2025, was received by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, at the Federal Ministry of Justice headquarters in Abuja.
Head of the panel, Mr. Olawale Fapohunda, SAN, before the presentation, lamented that most prisons in the country are in very deplorable conditions.
He further decried the swelling number of awaiting trial inmates in the country, adding that his team discovered that some have been on remand for over 10 years without a case file or legal representation.
Fapohunda, SAN, said the audit process included physical visitations to the custodial centres as well as interaction with inmates.
He said: “In the course of the audit, the working group reviewed the detention warrants of the inmates and, in some cases, visited the specific courts on whose orders the inmates were remanded to further authenticate the detention warrants.
“The mandate of the working group was mainly to focus on the legal status of Section 35 inmates (inmates that have been kept in detention for a longer period than the maximum period of imprisonment prescribed for the offence).
“Under this heading, the working group identified two distinct categories of inmates. There were those inmates in remand for non capital offences who, after being arraigned, their cases were caught up by the slow judicial process and would require the active intervention of the State Ministries of Justice.
“The second category was those inmates remanded for capital offences, including terrorism. Indeed, in one custodial centre, the working group discovered at least seven inmates remanded for offences relating to terrorism who have been on remand for upwards of 10 years from date of detention.
“The working group was unable to find any record that showed that they were brought before any court since the date of their detention. The intervention of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation is urgently required in this instance.
“It would have been odd in the extreme if the working group had simply focused on the status of Section 35 inmates and ignored the plight of other inmates deserving urgent attention.
“This category of inmates includes those without legal representation. Indeed, several inmates continue to be kept in detention for periods longer than the maximum period of imprisonment prescribed for the offence because they do not have legal representation.
“The working group found that an alarming high number of inmates in the custodial centres under review were without legal representation. The HAGF is invited to note that although the legal aid council of Nigeria is mandated to provide free legal services to inmates without legal representation, it is presently under resourced and thus barely able to make a significant difference.
“There were also inmates with life-threatening ailments who required urgent medical attention, the cost of which was outside the budget of the Correctional Services. The Working Group also identified several minors, including those whose ages as stated on their warrants of detention were incompatible with their physical outlook.
“In addition, the Working Group recommends that the HAGF convenes a meeting of the Body of Attorneys-General, with a view to achieving a coordinated response between Federal and State Governments on the legal status of all inmates including but not limited to those who have overstayed without trial,” he added.
The AGF said the government would study the report and come up with reforms that would strengthen the criminal justice system in the country.
“The mandate of the working group is crucial to achieving the standards we have set for ourselves in our effort to reform our criminal justice system.
“The vision of Mr. President is for a criminal justice system that maintains law and order, deters crime, punish offenders, and at the same time strives to rehabilitate those offenders in order to facilitate their recovery and reintegration to society,” the Justice Minister added.
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