Congestion: 3,084 men, 61 women on death row in Nigeria

• Police order transfer of detainee taken back to B'Haram

There are no less than 3,145 death row inmates in detention centers across the country, Sunday PUNCH has learned.

Nigeria Corrections Service spokesman Umar Abubakar, in his response to an inquiry from one of our correspondents, said there were 3,084 men and 61 women in the hall of death.

Some lawyers and human rights activists have consistently expressed concern over the fate of the detainees as most state governors refuse to sign the death warrant, leading to an increase in the number of prisoners sentenced to death. Some of them suggested converting the death penalty to life imprisonment, while others argued that if the government was unwilling to sign the mandate, capital punishment should be removed from the constitution and other relevant laws.

Meanwhile, despite complaints from several stakeholders, including lawyers and NCoS authorities, about overcrowding in facilities, the number of detainees in detention centers has continued to rise , fueling its clutter and making it difficult to manage centers.

Figures on the NCoS website indicated that as of July 4, there were a total of 74,675 detainees in the country, including 52,714 awaiting trial and 21,961 convicted detainees. Additionally, the total number of male inmates was 73,139 while there were 1,536 female inmates.

'Police recapture detainee'

The Nasarawa State Police Command announced on Saturday that it had arrested a Hassan Hassan identified as one of the Boko Haram suspects who escaped during the attack on the center Kuje Middle Correctional, Abuja.

State Police Public Relations Officer DSP Ramhan Nansel, who disclosed in a statement to Lafia, said Hassan was re-arrested in the area of Keffi local government of the state. He said the suspect would be moved to a safer location while an intensive search for other fugitive detainees continues.

He said, "The fugitive Boko Haram suspect was picked up by the eagle-eyed police officers from Keffi LGA Command. Police Commissioner Adesina Soyemi ordered the transfer the suspect to a safer location while the intensive search for other escapees and the process of handing over the arrested inmate progresses.

"CP Soyemi appreciates the efforts of the command's police officers for a job well done and assures members of the public of the command's relentless efforts to make public space safer for all."

Some terrorists attacked the Kuje detention center on Tuesday evening, freeing around 879 detainees, including 64 Boko Haram suspects. About 443 inmates returned to the facility or were recaptured. A member of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps and four detainees lost their lives in the attack.

"No Stolen Money"

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Correctional Service has denied reports that inmate money was stolen during the attack.

The NCoS, in a statement on its website, said: "We wish to inform the general public that the report in some quarters that inmates fleeing Kuje Medium Security Detention Center , stole money (local and foreign currency) belonging to fellow inmates is not true.

"All inmate cash deposited in the custody of detention center authorities is intact and secure as there is an existing instruction from the Comptroller General of Corrections that all officers guarding detention centers detention should not keep huge sums in the facility.”

The statement notes that the Comptroller General of Corrections, Haliru Nababa, spares no effort or resources to track down all escapees.

Fani-Kayode ignorant – DHQ

The Defense Headquarters on Saturday castigated a former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, for accusing the army of complicity in the attacks on the Kuje detention center and the Abuja-Kaduna train.

Director of Defense Information Major General Jimmy Akpor, in a statement on Saturday evening, called laughable allegations that the military withdrew its personnel from the detention center in Kuje, claiming that Fani-Kayode did not know whose responsibility it was to guard the detention centers.

The press release adds: “It is not able to know whether the DSS notified the army of an attack or not. It is perhaps not impossible that such a claim is part of a calculated attempt to provoke division and rivalry between all the government agencies that have worked together to solve the problems of insecurity in the country. That's it...