Nigeria’s justice system is facing an existential crisis. The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) reports that our prisons are now running in excess of 130% capacity with more than 77,000 inmates. This is both an administrative and a human rights issue that can no longer be ignored.

At a high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly in June this year, President Philémon Yang described the problem in clear terms: “incarceration remains the default response to crime—non-custodials [measures] are underused and underdeveloped.” While the trend in the Global North is moving significantly towards measures like probation, parole, and community service, in countries like Nigeria, incarceration remains the judicial remedy of primary recourse.

While some have argued that the correctional centres ought to be expanded both in size and number, the fundamental issue is a justice system that is failing to keep up with global best practices.

The Legal Framework Exists

The fundamental driver of congestion in the Nigerian prison ecosystem is not the lack of enabling laws. In fact, it is arguable that the Nigerian criminal justice and correctional framework closely match global norms, thanks to reforms made in the past decade.

The Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 (ACJA 2015), for instance, was a landmark legislation to infuse modern norms of criminal justice administration into the Nigerian legal system.

The ACJA 2015 generally favours a system that seeks to repair harm caused by a crime, prioritizing victims and the community over punishing the criminal.

In several key provisions, the Act makes provision for non-custodial measures such as:

• Plea Bargaining: Section 270 of the ACJA 2015 allows for plea bargaining between the prosecution and the offender, which, if properly applied, can lead to a non-custodial sentence. This can very well reduce the number of people remanded for minor offenses.
• Non-Custodial Sanctions: Part 41 of the ACJA 2015 elaborates in detail some of the non-custodial sentences, such as community service, parole, and probation. The Act intended these to be used for minor offenses.

In addition, the Nigerian Correctional Service Act of 2019 was enacted to replace the outdated Prisons Act. The new Act reverses the focus from punishment to rehabilitation and reintegration, with a boost to the legal framework for non-custodial measures. 

The Barriers to Implementation

Clearly, the legislation exists, but Nigerian prisons are still full. Arguably, the problem stems from a systemic failure with multiple causes and contributors:

Judicial Hesitancy and Lack of Trust:

Judges and magistrates are often reluctant to issue non-custodial sentences. This stems from a lack of trust in the system’s ability to monitor offenders on probation or community service. Without proper oversight mechanisms, judges worry that offenders will re-offend, undermining public confidence in the judiciary itself.

Underinvestment and Coordination Failures:

The infrastructure to manage non-custodial responses is underdeveloped. We lack sufficient numbers of probation officers, social workers, and the necessary funding to effectively monitor offenders in the community. The police, the courts, and the correctional service work in isolation from each other, without effective communication and coordination, and a shared strategy to administer justice. A community service order is meaningless if there are no staff to supervise the offender.

A Punitive Cultural Attitude:

Outside the courts, many citizens still regard prison as the initial, and often only, reaction to crime. Cultural pressure quietly but effectively deters the use of alternatives, which can be seen as “soft” on criminals. This is a strong cultural barrier to the full use of our enlightened system of jurisprudence.

Moving Forward

The fundamental challenge is about applying the laws that we already have. This will require a coordinated, multi-stakeholder effort that begins with the judiciary.

There should be periodic sensitization and training sessions for magistrates and judges on the application of non-custodial sentences, specifically highlighting the success rates in their application globally. These should be matched with extensive monitoring and implementation mechanisms.

For the Government, strategic investment is necessary. Funds should be devoted to recruitment and training to build and maintain a framework that can effectively audit and enforce the implementation of the existing laws. 

Finally, civil society organisations can play a key role in public education and advocacy to promote the use of non-custodial interventions. They can also work together with the judiciary to develop and test pilot schemes for effective community monitoring.

Through attention to implementation, as opposed to legislation in isolation, Nigeria can begin to address its prison crisis, reduce overcrowding, and reduce the cycle of recidivism.