The Federal Government, yesterday, revealed that Nigeria would spend N22.4 billion feeding inmates in prisons across the country.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Dr Shuaib Belgore, who disclosed this in a statement, yesterday, at a two-day Conference on Decongestion and Corrections Management in Abuja, noted that the fund was budgeted for in the 2023 Appropriation Act.
He said that there has been a steady rise in the population of the prisons with at least 80 per cent of the inmates awaiting trial.
According to him, “There are 244 prisons nationwide, with a 75,507-inmate population, thereby leading to 82 of them being overcrowded.
“The total number of male inmates is 73,821 and 1,686 female inmates,” he noted.
Out of the 75,507 inmates, 52,436 are awaiting trial while 23,071 are convicted persons, with 3,322 as condemned inmates on death row.
