By Kingsley Omonobi

Abuja—The Centre for Crisis Communication, CCC, said yesterday that unless the federal government and relevant stakeholders do something urgent about the high number of awaiting inmates in the nation’s prisons, Nigeria will continue to experience more jailbreaks and riots.

In fact, a report released by the Centre showed that more than 80 percent of prison inmates in the country were awaiting trials owing to the unwholesome, archaic criminal justice system in the country.

Giving details of the report on the occasion of its one year of service to the nation, Executive Secretary of CCC, Air Commodore Yusuf Anas, noted that since the Nigerian Prisons Service sits at the very heart of Nigeria’s security architecture, it should not be toyed with, as the agency statutorily responsible for holding convicted offenders.

Air  Commodore Anas said the remaining 20 percent of inmates represented actual convicted prisoners, stressing that apart from the convicted offenders, the prisons also provide an abode for those still awaiting trials for various crimes and offences, ranging from pick-pocketing to terrorism.

Expressing dismay over cases of security breaches that led to attempted and actual prison breaks across the country, Anas said an assessment of a number of Nigerian prisons revealed a dire situation across the various prison facilities in the country.

Giving a breakdown of a random sampling of the situation of six prisons in the geopolitical zones, Anas said:   “Ikoyi Prisons was established in 1951 with capacity to accommodate 800 prisoners but today it is populated by 2, 239 prisoners as at today; Katsina Prisons was established in 1918 with capacity to accommodate 238 prisoners but today, it is populated with 1069 inmates.

“Kano Central Prison was established in 1910 with capacity to accommodate 690 prisoners but today has 1609 inmates; Umuahia Prisons was established in 1970 with a capacity for 400 prisoners but today has 1035 inmates; Owerri Prisons was established in 1948 with a capacity for 548 prisoners but presently has 2144 inmates while Port Harcourt Prisons established in 1918 with capacity for 804 prisoners, have 3, 593 inmates.”

He said thecentre deplored the situation in Internally Displaced   Persons, IDPs, camps across the country and called for unhindered   access to humanitarian activities from both government   and international donor agencies.