The Federal Government has revealed that there are no fewer than 52,436 inmates of the correctional centres nationwide are awaiting trial.
According to Channels, this was stated by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Dr Shuaib Belgore, during a two-day High Conference on Decongestion and Corrections Management in Abuja.
He stated that while 23,071 are convicted persons, 3,322 are condemned inmates on death row.
Belogore also stated that there has been a steady increase in the population of the custodial centres with at least 80% of the inmates awaiting trial.
According to him, there are 244 custodial centres nationwide, with a 75,507-inmate population, thereby leading to 82 of them being overcrowded.
He also put the figure of the total number of male inmates as 73,821, adding that 1,686 are female inmates.
On the feeding of the inmates, the Permanent Secretary noted that the current administration will spend N22.4 billion feeding inmates in correctional centres nationwide.
