Interior minister Rauf Aregbesola says inmates awaiting trial have constituted a huge nuisance to the effective management and operations of prisons and are a security risk.
Mr Aregbesola said this while speaking at a two-day high-level conference on decongestion and corrections management on Thursday in Abuja.
The interior minister admitted that the awaiting trial inmates had also become a serious security threat in the country. According to him, they instigate riots and disrupt the peace of the prison.
The minister said it was imperative to find solutions to the high number of such inmates, who constituted more than 70 per cent of the inmates in all custodial facilities in the country.
He urged participants at the conference to find ways in which the justice system will handle the problem.
“The worst part is that we cannot begin any work of reformation and rehabilitation on them except they willingly choose to be part of our effort,” Mr Aregbesola pointed out.
He added, “This is because they are still deemed innocent, and we cannot assume they are convicts and therefore begin to treat them like one, no matter how well-intentioned we are.”
Mr Aregbesola said apart from the nuisance value and security risk posed by the awaiting trial inmates, they also constitute a huge drain on government finances.
The minister said quick and timely dispensation of justice would help to address the issue.
“If we eliminate half of the awaiting trial population in our facilities, there may not even be congestion again. This is why it has become imperative for the health of the custodial system to urgently address the challenge of awaiting trial inmates that have swamped our facilities,” he explained.