Rauf Aregbesola Asks Governors For Signature Of Death Warrant Over 3,008 inmates

Rauf Aregbesola Asks Governors For Signature Of Death Warrant Over 3,008 inmates

Iexclusive News Nigeria reports that Mr Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of the Interior, has urged governors to sign the death warrants of 3,008 convicts on death row in prisons across the country.

On Friday, July 23, when inaugurating the Nigerian Correctional Service’s (NCoS) newly constructed headquarters in Osogbo, Osun state capital, the Minister stated that jail congestion is the Service’s biggest concern.

Aregbesola further revealed that the national prison system, which has a maximum capacity of 57,278 convicts, now has a population of 68,747 inmates, with 67,422 males and 1,325 females.

According to the Minister, 50,992 detainees, or 74% of the total population of inmates in the country’s jails and prisons, are awaiting trial, while only 17,755 inmates, or 26%, are genuine criminals.

He said;

“There are presently 3,008 condemned criminals waiting for their date with the executioners in our meagre custodial facilities. This consists of 2,952 males and 56 females.

“In cases where an appeal has been exhausted and the convicts are not mounting any challenge to their conviction, the state should go ahead, to do the needful and bring closure to their cases.”

According to Aregbesola, state governors alternate between releasing some of the convicted inmates on compassionate grounds, particularly those who have become old due to their long stay in custody and those who are terminally ill.

According to Aregbesola, the federal government’s 3,000 high-capacity custody center, which is being developed in Kano, Rivers State, and Abuja, would be expanded throughout the country’s six geopolitical zones, easing congestion and improving the capacity to operate correctional facilities.