Nigerian prisons hold 3,688 inmates on death row

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has revealed that a total of 3,688 inmates are currently on death row across various correctional facilities in the country.

This was disclosed by the Acting Comptroller-General of the NCoS, Sylvester Nwakuche, during his screening before the Senate Committee on Interior on Wednesday.

Nwakuche, who was recently nominated by President Bola Tinubu as the substantive Comptroller-General, said the correctional system faces overcrowding issues due to the high number of awaiting trial inmates and death row prisoners.

Mr Nwakuche said the number of inmates on death row increased from 3,590 in September 2024 to 3,688 in March 2025, a situation that shows the challenges of congestion within Nigeria’s prison system.

“Inmates on death row are now 3,688 from 3,590 in September 2024,” he said.

Nigeria is one of the countries yet to abolish the death penalty despite pressure from groups such as Amnesty International. However, state governors, who have the final power to approve the killing of death sentence inmates after judicial rulings, are reluctant to do so.

The acting comptroller-general explained that the reluctance of state governors to either execute death row inmates or commute their sentences to life imprisonment is a major reason for prison congestion.

“State governors are part of our challenges. They refuse to execute inmates on the death row; neither do they commute their death sentence to life imprisonment,” he said.

Mr Nwakuche explained that if these sentences were commuted to life imprisonment, the NCoS could redistribute the affected inmates to rural correctional facilities, which are less congested compared to those in urban areas.

“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 added.

Beyond the issue of death row inmates, Mr Nwakuche emphasised the urgent need for collaboration with security and justice institutions to tackle the challenges of awaiting-trial inmates, which also contributes significantly to prison congestion.

He noted that many inmates have been held in correctional facilities for years without trial, some even beyond the sentences they would have served if convicted.

“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 recipient of the products of all the prosecuting agencies.

“When I met with the Inspector-General of Police, I said some of your inmates are in our facilities. They have stayed up to five or six years. Some of them are not needed to be in our facilities any longer.

“If they had been sentenced, some of them would 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,” he said.

To address these issues, Mr Nwakuche noted that he had initiated discussions with key security and legal institutions, including the Nigeria Police, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), State Security Services and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

He stressed that without proper collaboration among these agencies, prison congestion would persist.

“I also met the Director-General of DSS (SSS) 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 prisons unnecessarily,” he said.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, Adams Oshiomhole, assured Mr Nwakuche that the committee would evaluate his performance and submit a report to the Senate.

Mr Nwakuche was accompanied to the screening by top NCoS officials, including his Principal Staff Officer, Godwin Okosun, a Deputy Controller of Corrections, Babatunde Ogundare, and Assistant Controller General Ahmed Adagiri.