‘Thousands imprisoned over minor offences, small fines’ – Tunji-Ojo

Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has disclosed that thousands of inmates in Nigerian correctional centres were imprisoned for minor offences that did not require incarceration.

Tunji-Ojo made this known on Wednesday in Abuja at the Regional Conference on the Classification of Prisoners and the Use of Technology in Prisons in Africa, organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the African Correctional Services Association (ACSA).

According to the minister, many inmates were serving jail terms over small fines and compensation, despite the cost of keeping them in custody being far higher than the amount they owed.

“Shortly after I assumed office, I directed the Permanent Secretary and the Controller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service to provide records of inmates who were in custody over fines and compensation of less than N500,000. The review showed that more than 4,000 people fell into that category,” he said.

Tunji-Ojo said the government immediately reviewed the cases and realised that it made little sense to continue keeping such offenders behind bars.

“It made no sense for the government to spend far more on feeding inmates than the value of the fines they owed. After reviewing those cases, we cleared them and reduced the population of our correctional centres by about five per cent in a single day,” he said.

The minister revealed that 93 per cent of inmates in Nigeria’s correctional facilities are state offenders, while only seven per cent are held for federal offences.

He stressed that many correctional centres across Africa are overcrowded because people are imprisoned for offences that do not necessarily require jail terms.

“You have to look at those particular offences. You will realise that more than 30, 40 or even 50 per cent are offences that do not warrant incarceration,” he said.