3,688 prisoners on death row – NCoS
The Nigerian Correctional Service has disclosed that no fewer than 3,688 prisoners are on death row across its various facilities in the country.
The acting Comptroller General of the NCoS, Sylvester Nwakuche, disclosed this while appearing before a Senate Committee on Interior.
According to a statement made available to PUNCH Metro on Wednesday, Nwakuche decried the high number of inmates who were awaiting trial.
The acting CG also stressed that the failure of the state governors to sign the death warrants of inmates on death row has further compounded the challenges faced by the NCoS.
He also lamented the congested nature of correctional facilities across the country.
The statement read, “Inmates on death row are now 3,688 from 3,590 in September 2024. State governors are part of our challenges. They refuse to execute inmates on death row; neither do they commute their death sentences to life imprisonment.
“If they commute death sentences to life imprisonment, it is easier for us to distribute them to rural correctional facilities which are not as congested as those in urban correctional facilities.
“This is because the issue of congestion is a major urban phenomenon. Our correctional facilities in urban centres are more congested than those in rural areas. If we commute them to life sentencing, we will be able to distribute them equitably.”
He sought the collaboration of sister security agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Police, the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission in the management of inmates across the country.
The NCoS boss noted that the delay in the judicial process has also exacerbated the conditions of correctional facilities, urging that collaboration was necessary to address these challenges.
He continued, “This is very important for any establishment to forge ahead. An establishment like correctional centres cannot do anything without collaboration. We are the ones at the receiving end of the products of all the prosecuting agencies.
“If they have been sentenced, some of them will not spend up to two to three years in prison. But they have stayed in our facilities for six years. For me, such persons should be discharged and acquitted. That is one area we must collaborate to decongest our facilities.
“I also met the Director-General of DSS on the need for collaboration. I met the Attorney-General of the Federation for the same reason. Some of the inmates are waiting for the advice of the Director of Public Prosecution. If we do not reach out to these agencies, our people will continue to be in prison unnecessarily.”
In his remarks, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Interior, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, said the committee would submit its report based on the performance of the acting CG of the NCoS.
