Overcrowded, overlooked: Inside Ogun Correctional Centre crisis
We slept in hundreds, like packed sardines in a room that was supposed to accommodate twenty people. We battled skin rashes to head lice, bedbugs and then to mental disorder,” 50-year-old Idris (not real name) narrated his hellish experience behind bars at Ibara Correctional Center in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
His journey began on a sunny afternoon when he sighted his old-time friend around the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, secretariat, opposite NNPC mega station in Abeokuta.
Filled with euphoria, he hurriedly parked his car and crossed over to greet him. Unknown to Idris, a cult fracas had ensued the previous day and this led to confrontation and shooting at the scene.
They started shooting, I was shot, and I shot at many people also, but I was overpowered since there were many and the person I went to greet had fled the scene. I had a cut on my neck which landed me at the Federal Medical Center, Idi-Aba where I spent almost a month, from there I was taken to Ibara police station, then to Eleweran and after spending months I taken to court and charged for attempted murder and unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition,” he told SOCIETY WATCH.
Life in ‘Hell’ called prison
Idris, who was an awaiting trial inmate spent almost two years before the Islamic Humanitarian Service (IHS) came to his rescue. He described the Ibara correctional center as ‘nothing but hell’ as his cell room filled with other inmates was beside the kitchen.
It was like a dream. I asked myself, am I going to sleep here today? Will I still be going out? But I had to spend some years and months. The Ibara prison is nothing to write home about but hell. My cell room was beside the kitchen; we would be feeling heat day and night. It’s highly overcrowded, do you know how we sleep? If you open a sardine that was packed, that’s how we slept in prison, mental disorderliness, from skin rashes to head lice and then to bedbugs,” he sighed, shaking his head slowly.
“What they even served is nothing to write home about. A food that cannot feed a boy of 10 or 8 years, but they would serve it three times daily. Rice is for Wednesdays and Saturdays, while garri and beans are on other days. If you eat the soup too much it gives you a disability, we usually call it ‘Sapa ti mu mi lepon’ (meaning hunger has affected my scrotum).
The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) formerly known as Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) was officially changed on August 15, 2019, when President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Nigerian Correctional Service Act 2019 into law. The change was intended to reflect a paradigm shift from mere punishment to treatment and rehabilitation, with the aim of moving from a punitive and custodial-focused approach to one that prioritizes reformation, rehabilitation, and social reintegration of offenders.
Sadly, these facilities have become dumping grounds leading to overcrowding and thus denying inmates of adequate space, sanitation, and healthcare.
According to 2025 statistics from the Correctional Services, facilities across the country hold a total number of 81,287 inmates, with 27,701 convicted and a total of 53,178 awaiting trial. The inmates include 79,193 male and 2,006 female, with 51,679 male and 1,499 female awaiting trial.
