CSOs decry large number of awaiting trial inmates in Nigerian prisons

Some civil society groups have cried out over the large number of awaiting trial inmate’s in Nigeria’s correctional centres.

The groups, during the Cvil Society Organisations meeting in Adamawa State, hosted by the Public & Private Development Centre (PPDC), noted that about 70 percent of inmates are awaiting trial.

Stressing that the rise in the number of pre-trial inmates was alarming, they disclosed that as at December 2023, more than 53,000 inmates were awaiting trial across 253 correctional centres in Nigeria.

“The growing number of pre-trial detainees, many held for years without trial under dire conditions, poses significant human rights concerns, overwhelming the justice system and correctional facilities,” the PPDC said in the message signed by the PPDC Head of Communications and Knowledge Management, Munachi Okoro.

The organisation said the Yola meeting assembled key organisations from the justice sector to discuss crucial topics towards providing pro bono (free) legal services, among other interventions, to facilitate trials of the awaiting trial inmates.

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The representatives of NGOs and CSOs at the meeting spoke of what their organisations were doing and committed themselves to fresh efforts to ease the task of speeding up court trials.