More than three-quarters of the nearly 50,000 inmates in Nigerian jails have not been convicted, with some of them awaiting trial for the past 17 years, an official said on Tuesday.
“The total number of prisoners in Nigeria as of July 2010 was 47,628, out of this only 13,000 (23 percent) are convicted prisoners while 34,628 (77 percent) are awaiting trial,” said Umaru Kalgo, Nigerian law reform commission head, citing Nigerian Prison Services statistics.
He spoke at a meeting aimed at pushing for speedy trials and seeking ways to decongest the country’s jails.
At least half of those awaiting trial have been remanded in custdoy for between five and 17 years with no conclusion to their cases.