Prison congestion: Kano has highest number of pre-trial detainees – CURE

The Executive Director, Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errant (CURE-Nigeria), Sylvester Uhaa, has revealed that Kano state has the highest number of pre-trial detainees in the country which has resulted in over population of the state’s prisons.

He made the assertion on Thursday in Kano during a summit on Justice Reforms and Human Rights in Kano State, organized by CURE in Collaboration with the NHRC North-West Zonal Office and the state’s Ministry of Justice with the support of NBA, Kano Branch.

According to him, access to healthcare, Justice, feeding and rehabilitation programs remain critically poor as many of the prisons in the country were built more than 100 years ago with many not experiencing any significant renovation.

He decried the excessive and abusive use of pre-trial detention which according to him, is one of the biggest forms of human right violations in the country that is often ignored with Kano state yet to domesticate the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJ-ACT).

According to Uhaa, of the over 70,000 prisoners in Nigeria, more than 50,000 are awaiting trial, representing over 70 percent, making Nigeria the fifth country with the highest awaiting trial population in Africa trailing Libya.

Sylvester opined that, rather than recruiting more security agents and provision of more equipment, Government should invest more in welfare and social programs such as Education, Job creation, infrastructure and poverty alleviation programs, as the best way to combat crime which leads to incarceration and over population in the state prisons.

He said that, reducing the number of pre-trial detainees will resolve prison overcrowding, limit the spread of diseases and save tax payers money and spur development.

Speaking at the occasion, the Controller of Prisons, Alhaji Magaji Ahmad Abdullahi, also expressed concern over the overwhelming number of awaiting trial inmates numbering about 1,523 in the state’s two main prisons.

According to him, the prisons in the state are faced with the problem of over population with inadequate facilities to Carter for those in detention which often leads to management crisis.

Abdullahi also noted that, the prisons, have no facilities for mentally challenged persons in detention, making it difficult to cater or such persons in the conventional system.

He called on stakeholders concerned to assist in the process of decongesting the prisons by working in accordance with the provision of the law as it relates to the matter at hand.