IT’S OFFICIAL: Lagos has the highest number of prisoners in Nigeria

With a population of  7,396 out of the total of 68,686 in all states of the federation, Lagos has the highest number of prisoners.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Bayelsa, which has 444, is the least populated, next to Ekiti with 585.

The statistics showed that the total prison population grew by 5.6%.  Majority of inmates in prisons are awaiting trial.

The most represented age category is the 26-50 years age group followed by the category of those above 51 years.

The level of inmates under 16 years reduced from 446 in 2015 to 309 in 2016.

“Lagos state has the highest number of prison inmates. The state recorded 7,396 prison inmates population as against a prison capacity of 3,927, closely followed by Rivers and Kano states with 4,424 and 4,183 prison inmates population,” the report read.

“Conversely. Ekiti and Bayelsa states had the least prison inmates population of 444 and 585 as against prison capacity of 200 and 400 respectively.”

In 2015, 63,668 of the prison inmates were males against 1,365 females.

In 2016, 67,329 of the prison inmates were males as against 1,357 females, signalling a reduction in the number of female inmates in the prisons.

Earlier in the month when he met with judges, President Muhammadu Buhari lamented over the congestion of prisons.

“We need a new approach to prisons decongestion. It is a national scandal that many prisons are overcrowded by up to 90 percent. Urgent new measures should be put in place to speedily decongest prisons not only in the interest of justice but to save cost for prisons maintenance and enhance the welfare of prisoners,” he had said.