Over 3,600 Condemned Inmates Await Execution In Nigeria – Acting NCoS CG Nwakuche

No fewer than 3,688 inmates sentenced to death are currently confined in custodial centres across Nigeria, awaiting execution.

This was disclosed by the Acting Comptroller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Sylvester Nwakuche, during his screening before the Senate Committee on Interior.

According to Nwakuche, the number of condemned inmates rose from 3,590 in September 2024 to 3,688 by March 2025, underscoring the deepening challenges within Nigeria’s correctional system. Of this figure, 77 inmates are held at the Okekura Custodial Centre in Ilorin, Kwara State, while the remainder are distributed across facilities nationwide.

Sources at the Kwara State headquarters of the Correctional Service revealed that successive governors have consistently declined to sign death warrants, thereby complicating the situation. The most recent case in Ilorin involves one Usman Shuaib, who was sentenced to death earlier this week, pushing the condemned population in the facility to 77.

“These inmates continue to pose a heavy financial and security burden on the service and the state,” a senior prison official told DAILY POST on condition of anonymity. “Many have been on death row for over a decade, yet the governors’ refusal to sign death warrants keeps them in limbo.”

Legal experts and scholars have attributed the situation to political hesitation and systemic inertia. Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former Director of Public Prosecution in Kwara State, Jimoh Mumini Adebimpe, described the governors’ refusal as “purely political,” arguing that such inaction contributes to the growing impunity and crime rate in the country.

Professor Joseph Fayaye, a sociologist, noted that neither the President nor state governors can be compelled by court order or public sentiment to sign death warrants. He explained that the constitutional prerogative of mercy allows for commutation of death sentences to life imprisonment, absolute pardon, or confirmation of execution.

“However, when this prerogative is not exercised decisively, inmates remain in indefinite confinement. This leads to a cumulative rise in the death row population, as files are held back for political considerations, security briefings, or other discretionary factors,” Fayaye noted.

Similarly, Ilorin-based legal practitioner Lukman Raji criticised the governors for abdicating their constitutional responsibility. “Many are reluctant to sign for fear of political backlash or to avoid being labelled as having authorised executions, especially where politically sensitive cases are involved,” he said.

Raji warned that this inertia translates into significant public expenditure, as condemned inmates continue to receive food, medical care, and other provisions from the state’s budget.

Efforts to obtain official comments from the Kwara State Commissioner for Justice were unsuccessful, as calls and messages to his phone were unanswered at the time of filing this report.