Of the 48,000 prisoners in Nigeria, over 33,000 are awaiting trial.
Minister of Interior Comrade Abba Moro yesterday called for a speed trial of pending cases to decongest the prisons.
Moro said the over populated awaiting trial prisoners are causing problems in the system.
The Minister spoke in Abuja when he received the Commissioner and Special Rapporteur of the African Commission for Human Rights, Mrs. Dupe Atoke. She is on an assignment to ensure that Nigeria is complying with the non-torture policy of the AU.
Attorney General and Minister of Justice Mohammed Adoke, according to Moro, has inaugurated a panel a fortnight ago to see to the implementation of Justice sector plans leading to the decongestion of prisons with high pre-trial detainees.
His words: “I want to assure you that we in Nigeria are pushing forward with our programme of transformation. As you go round, you are likely to notice a preponderance of awaiting trial prisoners in most of our prisons. As a matter of fact, of our prison population of 48, 124, it is sad that over 33,692 are awaiting trial prisoners.
“I want to assure you that Nigeria is in the age of transformation. We shall continue to partner the African Commission in every way possible to ensure that the goal of promoting and protecting the human rights of our people are attained through the right course of action.
“As a leading country in Africa today, we do not have a choice than to lead by example. While we have our problems here, the prisons in Nigeria are not as bad as those of other countries.
“Because of the slow process of the Justice system, we need to decongest our prisons. The health problems are there. We always ensure that amnesty is granted to prisoners.”
Atoki said she has only 10 days to go round Nigerian prisons.
She said: “The findings made will be passed through AU and it will later be made available to President Goodluck Jonathan. We are not here to condemn or witch-hunt the country but to ensure that the human rights policy is followed.”
Aug242011