The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported a significant rise in Nigeria’s prison population, which grew from 69,946 inmates in 2017 to 81,710 in the second quarter of 2025, representing a 16.8 per cent increase. The data was released on Wednesday in Abuja as part of the NBS’s Nigerian Correctional Service Statistics 2017–Q2 2025.
The report covers a range of correctional service data, including inmate population, facility capacity, unsentenced inmates, and admissions across various offences.
According to the NBS, Lagos State recorded the country’s highest inmate population in Q2 2025, with 9,209 prisoners housed in facilities designed for just 4,167, resulting in an overcrowding ratio of 221 per cent. Other states with high inmate populations included Ogun (4,939), Kano (4,667), and Enugu (3,536).
On the other hand, Kogi recorded the lowest inmate population at 530, followed by Bayelsa (696) and Benue (777).
The number of unsentenced inmates, those awaiting trial, also increased from 47,610 in 2017 to 53,790 in Q2 2025, a rise of nearly 13 per cent. Over the same period, the capacity of correctional facilities grew from 53,752 to 65,035, representing a 21 per cent increase.
In 2024 alone, Nigerian correctional centres recorded 176,536 admissions across all offences. The largest share were remand or awaiting-trial cases, which accounted for 94,614 inmates, while condemned cases were the least, numbering 2,883.
In terms of offence types, stealing accounted for the highest number of admissions at 55,722, followed by other offences at 46,043 and armed robbery at 10,090. The report noted that bribery and corruption recorded the lowest admissions at 27, with cybercrime at 48 and smuggling at 118.
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