ABSTRACT

This study examines prison administration and crime prevention in Nigeria, using the Nigerian Correctional Service (formerly the Nigerian Prisons Service) at Agodi, Ibadan, as a case study. It sets out to ascertain the extent to which prison congestion constrains prison administration, to determine how far inadequate funding affects the administration of Nigerian prisons, and to establish whether the lack of rehabilitation and correctional equipment hampers the rehabilitation of inmates and the prevention of crime. A survey design was adopted. The data came mainly from primary sources and were supported by secondary sources, and they were analysed with simple tables and percentages. The findings showed that inadequate funding by the Federal Government is an obstacle to effective prison administration, that the absence of correctional facilities for rehabilitating offenders is positively related to higher recidivism among inmates, and that the existing laws on prisons have affected prison administration negatively. The study recommends that the Federal Government increase the funding of the prison system and amend the existing laws so that rehabilitation receives greater emphasis alongside punishment, for both awaiting-trial persons and convicted inmates.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Crime is conduct that violates the laws and norms by which a society governs itself, and a criminal is a person who breaks those rules in a way that can harm other members of the community. The prevention and control of crime and the maintenance of law and order are therefore central to the stability and development of any society, in both its social and economic life. Societies where people feel safe can invest, trade and plan for the future, whereas persistent insecurity discourages all three.

Within the criminal justice system, the prison is the institution to which the state entrusts the custody, punishment and reform of offenders. Nigeria's prisons were long governed by the Prisons Act. This was repealed by the Nigerian Correctional Service Act 2019, which renamed the institution the Nigerian Correctional Service, made correction its primary goal and brought the legal framework closer to international standards on the treatment of offenders (Longpoe & Longpoe, 2021). The Act is divided into custodial and non-custodial parts, it spells out the obligations of the Service and the rights of inmates in line with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules, and it allows a correctional centre to refuse further inmates once its capacity has been exceeded (Anyadiegwu, 2023). It also requires correctional facilities to provide educational and vocational training for inmates as part of rehabilitation (News Agency of Nigeria [NAN], 2025). In broad terms, the Service is expected to keep convicted offenders and awaiting-trial persons in safe custody, produce the latter in court when required, give effect to the sentences of the courts, reform convicted persons, and prepare them for reintegration into society after release.

In practice, however, there is a wide gap between this mandate and reality. Ajiboye, Awe and Akinyemi (2021) argue that the 2019 reform changed the name of the institution without changing its substance, and they report persistent problems of inmate welfare, decaying infrastructure and congestion, together with what they call pseudo-rehabilitation. A custodial centre that cannot house, feed and train its inmates adequately risks releasing people who are no better prepared to live lawfully than when they entered, which defeats the purpose of crime prevention.

Prison administration is itself a complex undertaking that brings together policy formulation and implementation, finance and budgeting, personnel management and daily operations. It also depends on other actors in the justice chain, such as the police, who arrest, investigate and prosecute, and the courts, which determine guilt and sentence. Delay at any of these points shows up inside the prison. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports that the number of awaiting-trial inmates reflects slow judicial processes, court congestion and limited access to legal representation (Nairametrics, 2026). Correctional officials make the same point and have called for more judges and courtrooms to speed up trials and reduce congestion (Gazette, 2026).

The scale of the problem is considerable. According to the Nigerian Correctional Service, 80,812 inmates were held in custody on 9 February 2026, and 51,955 of them, or 64 per cent, were awaiting trial, while 24,913 had been convicted (Chapi-Odekina, 2026; Eboesomi, 2026). NBS data show that the national inmate population grew from 69,946 in 2017 to 81,710 by the second quarter of 2025, and that Lagos State held 9,209 inmates in facilities built for 4,167 (Nairametrics, 2026). The Agodi centre in Ibadan, the focus of this study, was designed for 390 inmates but has operated far above that figure (Aina, 2025). In 2023 its officials reported 1,100 awaiting-trial inmates against only 144 convicted ones (Ajayi, 2023).

Against this background, the drive to reposition the Nigerian Correctional Service so that it serves both justice and public safety has made it necessary to study how prisons are administered and what that means for crime prevention. This study therefore inquires into prison administration and crime prevention in Nigeria, with particular reference to the Agodi Custodial Centre, Ibadan.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The prison system is an integral part of the criminal justice process and of efforts to prevent crime. Its stated purpose is to provide a place of correction and rehabilitation for people who have violated the law. Whether it achieves that purpose in Nigeria is doubtful. Studies of the post-2019 system describe poor welfare, infrastructure that has fallen into disrepair, congestion and rehabilitation that exists more in name than in practice (Ajiboye et al., 2021), and an assessment of the new law notes that Nigerian correctional facilities still fall short of approved standards for reformation (Longpoe & Longpoe, 2021).

Several specific problems stand out. First, congestion is driven largely by the high proportion of awaiting-trial inmates, which stood at 64 per cent in February 2026 (Chapi-Odekina, 2026). Overcrowding in turn affects health, tension among inmates, sleeping space, ventilation and the strain on available resources, as the case of Agodi shows (Aina, 2025). Second, funding is limited. The Service received ₦184.63 billion in 2025 for personnel, overhead and capital expenditure and sought ₦198.85 billion for 2026 (Chapi-Odekina, 2026), and its budget proposal earmarked ₦14.83 billion for feeding an estimated 91,100 inmates at ₦1,125 per inmate per day (PRNigeria, 2026). Third, the implementation of the rehabilitation provisions of the 2019 Act has been uneven, so that facilities, equipment and training for inmates and staff do not match what the law requires. Fourth, the transport of inmates to court and the pace of trials affect how long people stay in custody, since reducing congestion depends heavily on efficient judicial processes (Gazette, 2026).

When custody is congested and rehabilitation is weak, inmates are more likely to leave prison without the skills, health and support they need, and the likelihood of reoffending rises. The prison then fails in its crime-prevention role and the cost is borne by the wider society. There is a need for current, locally grounded evidence on how funding, congestion, the legal framework and the availability of rehabilitation facilities affect prison administration and crime prevention, and this study seeks to provide it for the Agodi Custodial Centre, Ibadan.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The general objective of the study is to examine prison administration and crime prevention in Nigeria. The specific objectives are to:

1. examine the objectives for which the Nigerian Prisons Service, now the Nigerian Correctional Service, was established;
2. identify the relationship between effective prison administration and the reduction of criminal activity in Nigeria;
3. investigate the challenges, including congestion, funding, the legal framework and the lack of rehabilitation facilities, that confront prison administration and its crime-prevention role in Nigeria; and
4. suggest ways of improving the effectiveness of prison administration in Nigeria.

1.4 Research Questions

The study is guided by the following research questions:

1. To what extent does prison congestion constrain effective prison administration in Nigeria?
2. Does inadequate funding constitute an impediment to effective prison administration in Nigeria?
3. Has the existing law on prisons affected prison administration in Nigeria negatively?
4. Has the inadequacy of correctional and rehabilitative equipment constrained efforts at the correction and rehabilitation of inmates and the prevention of crime?

1.5 Statement of Hypotheses

Hypothesis One

H₀: Effective prison administration is not a viable instrument for the control and prevention of crime in Nigeria.

H₁: Effective prison administration is a viable instrument for the control and prevention of crime in Nigeria.

Hypothesis Two

H₀: There is no significant relationship between effective prison administration and the reduction of the rate of crime in Nigerian society.

H₁: There is a significant relationship between effective prison administration and the reduction of the rate of crime in Nigerian society.

Hypothesis Three

H₀: Inadequate facilities and poor training are not factors that seriously affect effective prison administration and the rehabilitation of prisoners in Nigeria.

H₁: Inadequate facilities and poor training are factors that seriously affect effective prison administration and the rehabilitation of prisoners in Nigeria.

1.6 Significance of the Study

The study is significant because of the persistent level of crime in Nigerian society and the central place of the prison in the justice system's response to it. It sets out to show the connection between effective prison administration and crime prevention, to examine the challenges that face the Nigerian Correctional Service, and to propose practical solutions.

It also adds to knowledge on how the prison system affects the security of lives and property and the reformation of offenders, an effect that depends not only on the Correctional Service but also on its partner institutions in the justice system. By drawing on conditions at the Agodi Custodial Centre, it contributes recent, site-specific evidence to a literature that is often national or legal in focus.

The findings will be useful to security and justice agencies, especially officers of the Nigerian Correctional Service, to policy makers responsible for funding and legal reform, to general readers, and to future researchers interested in corrections and crime prevention.

1.7 Scope of the Study

The study covers prison administration and crime prevention in Nigeria, with its scope limited to the Nigerian Correctional Service (formerly the Nigerian Prisons Service) at the Agodi Custodial Centre, Ibadan. The investigation is therefore restricted to members of staff of the Service at that centre.

1.8 Definition of Operational Terms

Prison: Any officially designated and secured place in which persons considered guilty of an offence are confined in order to punish, correct and rehabilitate them. Under the Correctional Service Act 2019, prisons are now referred to as correctional or custodial centres.

Administration: The process by which two or more people work together to achieve a predetermined objective; in other words, the process of getting things done through people.

Crime: Any act or behaviour that violates the laws or norms of a society.

Crime prevention: The measures that government and society put in place to reduce the occurrence of criminal behaviour.

Criminal: A person who has been convicted of violating the laws or norms of society.

Awaiting-trial person: A person held in custody on a criminal charge whose case has not yet been decided by a court.

References

Aina, A. (2025). Unveiling the gendered dimension to the challenges of inmates at Agodi Correctional Centre, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Ikenga, 26(2). https://doi.org/10.53836/ijia/2025/26/2/012

Ajayi, O. (2023). 1,100 inmates await trial, 144 convicted in Agodi Correctional Centre – NCoS. News Agency of Nigeria. https://nannews.ng/1100-inmates-await-trial-144-convicted-in-agodi-correctional-centre-ncos/

Ajiboye, B. M., Awe, E. N., & Akinyemi, O. E. (2021). “Nomenclature changes, essence unchanged”: Peripheral prisons reform and refusal to alter deterrence for rehabilitation. Journal of Social Studies, 17(2). https://doi.org/10.21831/jss.v17i2.42758

Anyadiegwu, M. (2023). An appraisal of major innovations under the Correctional Service Act 2019: Keys to efficient criminal justice administration in Nigeria. Frontline Bar Journal, 1(3).

Chapi-Odekina, G. (2026, February 11). 64% of inmates awaiting trial as Correctional Service seeks ₦198.85bn for 2026. Vanguard. https://www.vanguardngr.com/

Eboesomi, S. (2026, February 11). Awaiting trial inmates account for 64% of prison population in Nigeria – NCoS CG. Premium Times. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/

Gazette. (2026, June 13). NCoS boss advocates more courtrooms to decongest custodial facilities. https://gazettengr.com/ncos-boss-advocates-more-courtrooms-to-decongest-custodial-facilities/

Longpoe, H., & Longpoe, W. (2021). Analysis of the transformation from the Nigeria Prisons Service to the Nigerian Correctional Service. International Journal of Comparative Law and Legal Philosophy, 3(3), 73 onwards.

Nairametrics. (2026, January 14). NBS: Nigeria prisons add 11,764 inmates between 2017 and 2025. https://nairametrics.com/2026/01/14/nbs-nigeria-prisons-add-11764-inmates-between-2017-and-2025/

News Agency of Nigeria. (2025). Hope beyond bars: Education driving reform in Nigeria's custodial centres. https://nannews.ng/hope-beyond-bars-education-driving-reform-in-nigerias-custodial-centres/

PRNigeria. (2026). NCoS: Awaiting trial inmates form 64% of prison population, lawmakers seek reform. https://prnigeria.com/