Garba was arrested in November for allegedly defrauding a customer of 150,000 naira and stealing laptops from the printing café where he worked. He was remanded pending trial, and his family was not notified. It is now February, and Garba remains detained, with his court hearings adjourned four times. On the other hand, there is Ngozi, a young lady of 28 years old who was arrested in March for theft at the supermarket where she worked. Unable to afford legal representation, her case is yet to be heard. Two stories, one problem: prolonged detention.
This article explores the concept of prolonged pretrial detention, the domestic and international legal frameworks, the notion of presumption of innocence, and what prolonged detention does to the human mind.
Understanding Life on Remand
The law permits, in certain instances, the detention of persons. However, when such detention becomes unduly prolonged, this raises valid concerns over constitutionality and the protection of fundamental human rights.
The World Prison Brief in 2025 estimated that Nigeria had a total of 50,357 pre-trial detainees/remand prisoners of the 77,438 total prison population. Thus, awaiting trial detainees constitute a whopping 65.03% of the total Nigerian prison population. What this means is a high percentage of human rights violations, systemic failures, and deplorable mental conditions for detained persons awaiting trial.
Domestic and International Legal Protection Against Prolonged Pre-trial Detention
Domestically, the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN), as amended, is the foremost legal document protecting the rights of citizens in Nigeria. The Constitution provides for the right to personal liberty in section 35, which prevents the restriction of a person’s liberty; however, with lawful exceptions like for the execution of a sentence of an individual found guilty, for the purpose of bringing a suspect before the court, for the prevention of a crime, and for the protection of public safety.
In the instance that a person’s right to personal liberty is deprived lawfully on the grounds of arrest or detention in suspicion of guilt for a crime, the Constitution provides that the detained person should be brought before a court within a ‘reasonable time’. Section 35(5) of the Constitution addresses this clause ‘reasonable time’ by providing that arrested persons should be presented before the court within a 24 to 48-hour window.
Additionally, every person has the right by virtue of section 36 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) to a fair hearing of his case in an independent and impartial court of competent jurisdiction and with proper representation within a ‘reasonable time’. This includes the right to be informed of the charges against him and the right to adequate time to prepare his defence, along with legal representation. All of these are to emphasise that justice should be easily accessed, not delayed, and must be predicated on transparency in any case.
Building on the foundation laid by the constitution, unlawful prolonged detention is also addressed by the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, a novel enactment which aims to tackle the systemic issues plaguing the criminal justice system through the promotion of efficient management of criminal justice institutions, speedy dispensation of justice, protection of the society from crimes and protection of the rights and interests of the suspect, the defendant, and the victims in Nigeria.
The Administration of Criminal Justice Act, in section 293, provides that suspects arrested be brought before a magistrate within a reasonable time and in the instance that it is for an offence which the magistrates’ court is unable to try, for example, offences like murder and armed robbery, the police must make an application for remand. The Magistrate would then examine the police’s request to determine whether there is probable cause for the remanding of the suspect.
The court determines probable cause by considering the gravity of the offence, the evidence available, the propensity of the suspect to flee, the chances of the suspect to commit another offence, as well as any other reason that would justify the application to keep the suspect in custody. If there is probable cause, the suspect will be held in detention but will still be able to apply for bail. Based on the provisions of section 296 of the Act, limits have been placed on the duration of pretrial detention. The first remand should be no longer than two weeks (14 days) and is subject to review or eventual bail. This limit is to guarantee the end of indefinite pretrial detention, which is the prevailing reality of the criminal justice system.
Another notable piece of legislation that is vital to the prevention of awaiting trial detentions is the Nigerian Correctional Service Act 2019. As part of its objectives in Section 2, the Act aims to guarantee compliance with international human rights standards and good correctional service practices, as well as to provide workable systemic and institutional mechanisms to address the high number of persons awaiting trials. One way of solving this is through the provision of non-custodial means of facilitating justice. It also requires that correctional services provide a report of detainees to the judiciary, especially in the instance of overcrowding, which is statistically caused by the staggeringly high number of awaiting trial inmates.
International legal regulatory frameworks like Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, and even the Kampala Declaration on Prison Conditions in Africa 1996, provide for the protection against arbitrary detention and the taking of relevant steps to prevent overcrowding, protect personal liberty, fair hearing, and utilise non-custodial measures.
What Prolonged Detention Does to the Human Mind
Life on remand with the deplorable conditions of the Nigerian prisons, as it is known for overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions, adversely affects the minds of those in detention. Individuals whose lives are on remand, although not prisoners in the eyes of the law, are subject to the hard rigours of the prison environment and are forced to accept a reality that contradicts the reality of law and the reality of all they have ever known. In no small way, prolonged detention affects their minds in the following ways:
- Anxiety
Many scholars and psychologists have highlighted that anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental illnesses or conditions that plague people who have been in prolonged detention. Anxiety is a state of worry, fear, or feeling of nervousness that occurs when an individual is faced with frightening or threatening circumstances. In such circumstances, the mind and body wrestle and try to cope with the threat. The process of the mind tackling the frightening or critical situation is what amounts to anxiety. An article titled Prisoner Anxiety provides that notable symptoms of anxiety, although it varies with each inmate, include sleeping problems, difficulty in breathing, sweaty palms, stress and worry from the sound of prison doors as it opens and close, anger and consistent apprehension or fear, as well as the feeling of loss of one’s mind.
The uncertainty of life in detention is a significant contributor to anxiety. Many detainees are unsure of when they will be charged, when the trial will occur, what the outcome of the trial will be and when they will be released. This uncertainty places them in a state of stress, hypervigilance, and anger which reveals and compounds their anxiety. A qualitative research study carried out in a Nigerian prison facility on awaiting trial/pre-trial remand inmates further revealed that anxiety may arise from the environmental conditions of the prison facility as well as from the welfare of family members or relatives while in detention.
- Identity Erosion
Identity erosion is a gradual loss of self; loss of a sense of purpose or understanding of who one truly is and the values one stands for. Many persons in detention who are either awaiting trial or sentencing are often caught up in the web of not knowing who they are due to the ordeals that led to their entrance to detention or the crippling state of their detention. Many cannot recognise themselves as distinct individuals because institutionalisation in prisons compels them to see themselves through their prison labels. Some only see themselves as inmates. This is because social interactions help boost a sense of self-worth and importance as they enable people recognise and build their identities through human roles and relationships which prolonged detention takes away.
A notable criminologist in his work highlighted how deprivations in the prison environment take away the individual’s sense of self-worth which leads to identity erosion as the prisoner gets too familiar with institutionalisation, suppresses future ambitions, is compelled to dread or be passive about the future, and even carries out a total psychological shutdown. Indeed, what prolonged detention does to the mind of such an individual is to make him delve further into psychological punishment.
- Psychological Helplessness
Detainees often experience a state of helplessness since their lives are determined and regulated by prison routine practices. They lose their sense of autonomy, purpose, and identity and they delve deep into a feeling of helplessness since, unlike convicted inmates, they have a chance for bail or even a chance to get redress against their unlawful detention, yet they experience legal and systemic failures that drive their hope of release, bail, trial, or sentencing further away. What these individuals develop through dependence on prison system for food and basic survival as well as the near futility of their efforts and the uncertainty of their lives in the prison system, is to live each day in a numb state, expecting nothing, and attempting to do nothing because things remain the same or have remained the same for the years they have spent in pre-trial detention. How does one tell such a person to hope and believe again?
- Depression and Bipolar Disorders
Depression and bipolar disorder are the most common mental illnesses of persons in prolonged detention. Trying to make sense of reality, detainees move deeper into sadness until it grows into full-blown depression. Mood swings and emotional instability trek in to join the park and the individual is almost unrecognisable. All of these emanate from the fears surrounding the prison environment, the prison regimented lifestyle, and also the growing sadness of being cut off from the world and most importantly, the fact that detention seems unending.
- Social Withdrawal and Isolation
Shame and imminent stigmatisation of persons remanded even though they are eventually acquitted tricks the minds of detained persons to dread social engagement even upon release which eventually leads to social withdrawal and isolation. The gravity of this is seen both during detention and post-detention. In detention, the detainee develops low energy for communication since conversing does little to change his status quo and eventually after a series of crying, sadness, and dashed expectations, the emotions grow numb and all that is left is a mechanical approach to life and human interaction. This is what fuels the complete or partial withdrawal from society and social engagements and, in most cases, isolation.
- Cognitive Impairment
The conditions of confinement especially over a long period of time can interfere with normal brain functioning, stimulation, and even emotional regulation. All of these can adversely affect the cognitive capacity of the detainee by disrupting thinking patterns, concentration, mental interpretative abilities, as well as decision making. The mind is distorted as the person, although still sane, has, to himself, lost his mind in the process of getting out of the web of delayed justice, systemic inefficiency, and in most cases financial disparity that cripples the indigent within the criminal justice system. Healthy brain stimulation depends on active and continuous intellectual engagement of solving problems, learning in conducive environments, and engaging in social interactions, all of which are deprived of the detainee by the prison environment. All these plagued with the banner of uncertainty and the seemingly unending state of prolonged confinement weakens memory capacity and even reduces attention span of the detainees.
What Needs to Change?
The hypothetical case of Garba and Ngozi is not forgotten. Although presumed innocent in law, in reality, Garba and Ngozi shut their eyes each night and open them each morning, confined in a prison cell. Is this a phase of waiting for justice, or is it the slow serving of an imaginary sentence under the pretence of pretrial detention? Justice was never meant to be delayed or inaccessible. The remanding of Garba and Ngozi and so many other awaiting trial inmates has eroded the true concept of justice and has led to mental degradation of these persons who face the cruel reality of prison life, although not just convicted, and whose identity is often plastered with the unneeded cement of self-doubt and social stigmatisation. Justice was never meant to break the mind and should never break the mind.
The reality that many awaiting trial detainees face indeed presents a reflection of unwarranted psychological punishment, whereas most of these persons may eventually not get convicted of the offence they are charged with and may not even be able to get past the detention state with their minds in one place. The environment and the very idea of confinement weaken their minds and ushers psychological incarceration and punishment. Nevertheless, having explored the adverse psychological effects of prolonged detention on the human mind, what needs to change?
First, the Nigerian criminal justice system should strictly enforce time limits to detention as provided in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015. Secondly, there should be more accessibility to bail. Next, speedy trial and case management should be guaranteed to prevent prolonged detention. Also, there should be greater accountability for detention cases and recourse to non-custodial measures to guarantee the decongestion of the Nigerian prison service. Lastly, investigation should ideally precede arrest to ensure that arrested persons or suspects move swiftly to trial before a competent court of law.
