The Nigerian Correctional Service, (NCoS), has revealed that the number of prisoners on death row had risen from 3,590 in September 2024 to 3,688 in March 2025, representing a 2.73 percent increase or 98 prisoners within six months.
The NCoS also sought strategic collaboration with the Nigeria Police, Department of State Services (DSS); Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to speed up the wheel of justice in the country.
The Acting Controller-General of NCoS), Mr. Sylvester Nwakuche revealed the figure while the Senate Committee on Interior, chaired by Senator Adams Oshiomhole was screening him for the position of substantive controller-general.
Nwakuche was accompanied by his Principal Staff Officer, Mr. Godwin Okosun; Deputy Controller of Corrections of NCoS, Mr. Babatunde Ogundare; Acting Controller-General of NCoS, Mr. Sylvester Nwakuche; and Assistant Controller General of NCoS, Mr. Ahmed Adagiri, among others, to the screening exercise.
Responding to questions at the screening, Nwakuche disclosed that no fewer than 3,688 inmates are currently on death row in the country compared to 3,590 recorded in September 2024.
He explained the major challenges facing the correctional service in the country, revealing that the majority of inmates “are currently awaiting trials. That is our major headache we are trying to address on a daily basis.
The acting comptroller-general said: “Inmates on death row are now 3688 from 3,590 in September 2024. State governors are part of our challenges. They refuse to execute inmates on the death row; neither do they commute their death sentence to life imprisonment.
“If they commute death sentences to life imprisonment, it is easier for us to distribute them to rural correctional facilities which are not as congested as those in urban correctional facilities.
“This is because the issue of congestion is a major urban phenomenon. Our correctional facilities in urban centres are more congested than those in rural areas. If we commute them to life sentencing, we will be able to distribute them equitably,” the acting comptroller-general.
The acting comptroller-general pledged to collaborate with other security agencies more strategically to ensure that the issues of awaiting trials are permanently resolved so that the prison can be decongested.
