Mandela Day: NHRC, Partners Secure Release of 11 Inmates, Push Humane Reforms at Suleja Correctional Centre

By: Michael Mike

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in partnership with Hope Behind Bars Africa and other stakeholders, has facilitated the release of 11 indigent inmates from the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre in Niger State as part of activities commemorating the 2026 Nelson Mandela Day.

The intervention, which involved the payment of fines ranging between N800,000 and N900,000, also included the donation of essential hygiene materials to inmates and sensitisation of correctional officers on international standards guiding the treatment of persons deprived of liberty.

The initiative, according to the organisers, was aimed at promoting the ideals of the late South African leader, Nelson Mandela, whose life remains a global symbol of the fight for justice, equality, dignity and human rights.

Speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Dr Tony Ojukwu, SAN, said Mandela Day was an opportunity to remind society that justice, dignity and compassion must extend to everyone, including persons in custodial facilities.

Represented by his Special Assistant and Head of the Commission’s Monitoring Department, Dr Benedict Agu, Ojukwu said the United Nations General Assembly’s decision in 2015 to expand the focus of Mandela Day was to draw attention to humane conditions of imprisonment, recognition of prisoners as continuing members of society and the crucial role of correctional officers as providers of an important social service.

He said the adoption of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners as the Nelson Mandela Rules remained a fitting tribute to a man who spent 27 years behind bars in pursuit of freedom and justice.

“Today’s commemoration is not about the calendar but about the principles Mandela stood for. For us, it is not just a memorial but a reaffirmation of a life lived for the human person, for the values of human dignity and for the principles of freedom,” Ojukwu stated.

He noted that the theme of Mandela Day 2026, “It’s Still in Our Hands to Combat Poverty and Inequity,” strongly aligns with the realities encountered by the Commission in its human rights work.

According to him, poverty remains one of the underlying factors contributing to crime and prolonged detention, particularly among inmates unable to pay court-imposed fines.

“Most crimes that bring people into custody are often rooted in poverty, and when you look at the fines that continue to keep low-risk inmates behind bars, you can see how poverty and inequity sustain overcrowding in our correctional facilities,” he said.

Ojukwu stressed that the theme must challenge governments, institutions and citizens to address inequality through reforms in policies, laws and practical interventions.

He explained that the Commission had moved beyond monitoring detention facilities and making recommendations by actively supporting vulnerable inmates through payment of fines, welfare assistance and programmes designed to encourage rehabilitation and reintegration.

“For people of means, it is an invitation to join hands in supporting these efforts, so that custodial centres are not overwhelmed and society can benefit from the values and contributions of rehabilitated inmates because they still have something to offer,” he said.

Recalling the Commission’s Mandela Day intervention in 2025, Ojukwu said the NHRC facilitated the release of four indigent inmates at the Suleja facility, donated essential welfare materials and sensitised correctional officers on the Mandela Rules and Bangkok Rules.

He added that the Commission was continuing in that direction by supporting the release of more low-risk inmates, stressing that those in custody remained members of society deserving opportunities to rebuild their lives.

“By these actions we are simply saying that those in custody remain part of our society and deserve opportunities to rebuild their lives. Custody must be a turning point, leading to correction and ultimately reintegration,” he said.

Also speaking, the Executive Director of Hope Behind Bars Africa, Pauline Oloreomi, said justice should not be perceived only as punishment but as a pathway towards reform, rehabilitation and restoration.

Oloreomi highlighted the need to pay greater attention to the specific challenges faced by women in custodial centres, including access to healthcare, protection of dignity during searches and increased adoption of non-custodial measures for pregnant women and nursing mothers.

While acknowledging that legal frameworks exist to protect female inmates, she noted that implementation remained a major challenge and called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders to improve conditions in correctional facilities.

The Programme Supervisor of Hope Behind Bars Africa, Hassan Nurudeen, said the organisation’s work focuses on access to justice, human rights protection, education and rehabilitation as part of efforts to reduce repeat offending.

He explained that the organisation collaborates with correctional centres nationwide to provide vocational training and educational opportunities, including the establishment of a National Open University of Nigeria study centre at the Keffi custodial facility.

Nurudeen disclosed that Hope Behind Bars Africa paid fines for four inmates at Suleja amounting to N400,000, while the NHRC facilitated the release of seven others.

In a goodwill message, the Executive Director of Shamies Unusual Heart Foundation, Dr Sera Abdul, said Mandela’s life demonstrated that no individual should be defined by their lowest moment.

Represented by the foundation’s Programme Officer, Shedrack Okah, Abdul said correctional facilities should not be viewed as the end of a person’s journey but as places where hope could be restored, dignity protected and lives transformed through compassion, education, skills acquisition and second chances.

She stressed that government alone could not address the complex challenges facing Nigeria’s correctional system, including overcrowding, limited resources, rehabilitation gaps and reintegration difficulties.

“Private and civil society partners bring innovation, community trust, specialised expertise and additional resources,” she said, urging continued collaboration between government institutions and non-state actors.

She encouraged inmates at the Suleja facility to take advantage of available opportunities, including education, vocational training, agriculture and counselling, to prepare themselves for productive reintegration into society.

The Officer in Charge of Suleja Correctional Centre, Sunday Ejeh, urged inmates to draw inspiration from Mandela’s journey, noting that the former prisoner rose to become President of South Africa after decades of struggle.

He said Mandela’s story should remind inmates that their current circumstances do not determine their future and that they can still become responsible and productive members of society after serving their sentences.

The NHRC and its partners said the Mandela Day intervention represents a broader commitment to transforming Nigeria’s correctional system from one focused primarily on punishment to a model centred on rehabilitation, dignity, justice and successful reintegration.

Mandela Day: NHRC, Partners Secure Release of 11 Inmates, Push Humane Reforms at Suleja Correctional Centre

Tinubu commends Buni over successful primaries in Yobe

By: Yahaya Wakili

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu GCFR, has commended Governor Mai Mala Buni CON of Yobe State and other stakeholders of the party for the successful primary election that produced Alhaji Baba Mallam Wali MNI as the party’s governorship candidate.

The President gave the commendation when he received Governor Buni and the APC gubernatorial candidate, Alhaji Baba Mallam Wali, MNI, at Aso Villa, Abuja.

President Tinubu expressed appreciation for the healthy political developments in Yobe State ahead of the forthcoming general elections.

The President described Governor Mai Mala Buni, CON, as a political strategist with invaluable strategies that have consistently contributed to the success of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and remain a worthy treasure for the party.

According to the president, “With Governor Buni at the helm of affairs, I have no doubt that Yobe State will always be delivered to the party.

“Yobe State is blessed to have a seasoned bureaucrat with a huge wealth of experience who has consistently been part of the system as the governorship candidate of the party,” President Tinubu said.

He said, “I am sure you will bring your wealth of experience to continue with the legacies of the Buni administration to add to the achievements in education, healthcare, road infrastructure, agriculture empowerment, and the rest,” President Tinubu told Baba Mallam Wali.

Governor Mai Mala Buni further described the candidate as fully prepared for the job and noted that he has been part of the system for a long time, and it will be continuity without wasting time.

He expressed the appreciation of the government and people of Yobe State for the support extended by the Tinubu-led federal government to the state to improve the lives of the people.

Tinubu commends Buni over successful primaries in Yobe

Over 90% of Nigeria’s Inmates are State Offenders, Between 30-50% Shouldn’t Have Been Jailed – Tunji-Ojo

Reveals How FG freed over 4,000 inmates in one day, cut recidivism from 13,000 to 1,000

By: Michael Mike

The Federal Government has disclosed that 93 per cent of inmates in Nigeria’s custodial facilities are being held for state offences, with only seven per cent facing federal offences, even as it revealed that between 30 and 50 per cent of inmates may be serving time for offences that do not warrant imprisonment.

The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure on Wednesday in Abuja at the Regional Conference on the Classification of Prisoners and the Use of Technology in Prisons in Africa.

The conference was jointly organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the African Correctional Services Association (ACSA).

Tunji-Ojo said the figures had exposed the need for a fundamental rethink of the way Nigeria and other African countries classify offenders and deploy imprisonment as a response to crime.

“93% of our inmates in Nigeria are state offenders. Only 7% are federal offenders. And of this 93%, I want to tell you before this president came on board, a lot of them were for minor offences that had no need for incarceration,” the minister said.

He said the Federal Government, upon his assumption of office, undertook an audit of inmates incarcerated over minor fines and compensation orders, a process that resulted in the release of more than 4,000 inmates.

“When I became minister, I called my permanent secretary, I called the Controller General of the Correctional Service, and I said, listen, give me the data, the record of people who are in correctional centres for fines and compensation of less than 500,000 or something. And guess what? Over 4,000 people,” he said.

According to the minister, the continued detention of such inmates was economically irrational, as the government spent far more feeding and maintaining them than the value of the fines or compensation involved.

“I said, what is the sense in this? Because I feed them in a year with more than 10 times of the fine. So how is the government benefiting?” he asked.

Tunji-Ojo said the government subsequently cleared the affected cases, resulting in the decongestion of correctional facilities by five per cent in a single day.

“And we were able to clear that, and in one day, we decongested our correctional centre by 5% in one day. In one day,” he said.

The minister said the experience raised a broader question about the rationale behind overcrowding in correctional facilities, insisting that the number of inmates alone should not be the only measure of the crisis.

“The question is this. Is your correctional centre rightfully overcrowded? That is the question. You have to look at those particular offences. You will realise that more than 30, 40, 50 percent are offences that do not warrant incarceration,” he said.

The disclosure comes against the background of Nigeria’s long-running prison congestion crisis. Correctional facilities across the country have for years struggled with overcrowding, placing enormous pressure on feeding, healthcare, security, rehabilitation and other essential services.

A significant proportion of the inmate population comprises persons awaiting trial. In many cases, detainees spend prolonged periods in custody before their cases are concluded, with some eventually discharged for lack of evidence or after spending periods in detention that exceed the sentences they might have received if convicted.

The situation has fuelled concerns over access to justice, the presumption of innocence and the impact of poverty on the criminal justice system, particularly where suspects are unable to meet bail conditions or secure effective legal representation.

The minister’s position suggests that the problem cannot be solved simply by constructing more prisons. Rather, it requires a more rigorous classification of inmates, faster trials and greater use of non-custodial measures for minor and non-violent offences.

Beyond decongestion, Tunji-Ojo said the Federal Government had also recorded significant progress in reducing recidivism through education, skills acquisition and rehabilitation.

He disclosed that the number of inmates returning to crime had fallen sharply from about 13,000 cases annually in 2023 to approximately 1,000 last year.

The minister attributed the improvement to increased access to education and vocational training within correctional facilities.

He said 62 inmates were currently pursuing postgraduate studies, while 261 were enrolled in undergraduate programmes. Another 1,125 inmates were participating in formal education.

He further disclosed that 18 National Open University of Nigeria centres had been established within correctional facilities, while 9,582 inmates were enrolled in vocational and non-formal rehabilitation programmes.

The figures, he said, reflected a deliberate shift in the philosophy of corrections from mere confinement to rehabilitation and reintegration.

Tunji-Ojo also said Nigeria had gone three consecutive years without recording a jailbreak or an attack on a correctional facility, attributing the achievement partly to improved data management and information sharing among security agencies.

He cited the case of an escaped inmate who was rearrested after attempting to obtain a Nigerian passport.

According to him, the inmate’s biometric information triggered an alert when he approached the Nigeria Immigration Service.

“Immediately he put his finger at the level of Nigeria Immigration Service to procure a passport. Immigration saw it immediately that he was an inmate. And immediately they reached out to Correctional Service and he was arrested right there,” the minister said.

He said the incident demonstrated the importance of integrating technology and biometric data across government agencies in strengthening national security and improving correctional administration.

The Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Sylvester Nwakuche, said the country had continued to modernise its correctional system through reforms anchored on the Nigerian Correctional Service Act, 2019.

Nwakuche said the classification of inmates had become a strategic instrument for identifying risks, protecting vulnerable prisoners, deploying resources efficiently and delivering rehabilitation programmes tailored to the needs of individual inmates.

He said the proper classification of prisoners was essential to ensuring that inmates were not managed as a homogenous group, stressing that the risks, needs and rehabilitation requirements of a convicted violent offender could not be treated in the same manner as those of a low-risk or vulnerable inmate.

The Controller-General also said the integration of technology into correctional administration would improve record management, strengthen information sharing and enhance institutional accountability.

He noted that correctional institutions across Africa faced complex security and rehabilitation challenges that could not be solved by any single institution acting alone.

“No single correctional service possesses all the solutions to today’s security and rehabilitation challenges,” Nwakuche said.

He added: “We have a unique opportunity to exchange ideas, share practical experiences and collectively develop solutions that will strengthen correctional systems across Africa.”

The Abuja conference therefore provided a platform for African correctional authorities and international partners to examine how prisoner classification and technology could be deployed to improve prison management, enhance security and promote rehabilitation.

For Nigeria, the discussions are particularly significant as the country continues to confront the challenge of overcrowded custodial centres and a criminal justice system in which many suspects remain in detention for extended periods before trial.

The latest figures have also brought renewed attention to the relationship between federal and state justice systems. Although the Nigerian Correctional Service is a federal institution, the minister said 93 per cent of inmates were being held for state offences.

This means that the Federal Government is responsible for the custody, feeding, healthcare and rehabilitation of a large population of inmates whose alleged offences fall under state jurisdiction.

The revelation is likely to intensify calls for states to take greater responsibility for the administration of criminal justice, particularly by strengthening their courts, improving prosecution, expanding legal aid and ensuring that minor offenders are not unnecessarily committed to custodial facilities.

Legal and human rights advocates have long argued that the nation’s prison congestion crisis is not simply a problem of inadequate infrastructure. They maintain that unnecessary arrests, prolonged investigations, delayed trials, inability to meet bail conditions and the overuse of imprisonment for minor offences are major drivers of overcrowding.

The Federal Government’s experience of releasing more than 4,000 inmates in a single day over fines and compensation orders of less than about N500,000 has now provided a stark illustration of the problem.

The development also highlights the economic cost of unnecessary incarceration. As Tunji-Ojo pointed out, the cost of feeding and maintaining an inmate for a year could be many times higher than the fine or compensation that led to the person’s imprisonment in the first place.

The challenge before Nigeria, therefore, is to ensure that imprisonment is used for offenders whose incarceration is necessary to protect society, while non-custodial alternatives are deployed for minor offences and low-risk offenders.

The minister’s disclosure has consequently transformed the debate over prison congestion from a question of how many more custodial facilities Nigeria needs to a more fundamental question: how many people should be in prison in the first place?

With 93 per cent of inmates reportedly held for state offences, between 30 and 50 per cent allegedly serving sentences for offences that may not warrant incarceration, more than 4,000 inmates freed in one day and recidivism reportedly falling from about 13,000 to 1,000 cases annually, the Federal Government says the future of Nigeria’s correctional system must lie in smarter classification, technology-driven administration, rehabilitation and a justice system that reserves imprisonment for those who truly need to be behind bars.

Over 90% of Nigeria’s Inmates are State Offenders, Between 30-50% Shouldn’t Have Been Jailed – Tunji-Ojo