NCoS Freed 28,149 Inmates Through Fines, Compensation

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has revealed that 28,149 inmates were released across the country in 2024 following the payment of fines and compensations.

Deputy Controller-General of Corrections, Ibrahim Idris, disclosed this on Thursday during the third public hearing of the Independent Investigative Panel on Alleged Corruption, Abuse of Power, Torture, and Other Inhumane Treatment against the NCoS in Abuja.

“Last year, 28,149 inmates were released as a result of payment of fines and compensations. I also want to urge the panel and the public that payment of fine and compensation is a very charitable thing to do,” Idris said.

He commended such interventions for helping to decongest correctional facilities, adding that fewer inmates create more opportunities for proper rehabilitation. “Even before the 2019 Act, the philosophy of Nigerian correctional services has always been imprisonment as a punishment, and not for punishment,” he noted.

Assistant Controller-General Cyrus Lekatile, representing the Deputy Controller-General (Operations), explained that custodial centres cannot hold individuals without valid remand documents. For inmates sentenced with an option of fine or compensation, failure to pay could mean serving the sentence in full.

Lekatile outlined that if compensation remains unpaid at the end of a jail term, it can be converted into additional jail time, or the convict’s release can be ordered by the sentencing court.

He also revealed an ongoing legislative amendment to establish a Victim Compensation Trust Fund, to be financed through federal allocations, ensuring victims receive payment without depending on inmates’ ability to pay.

“Inmates will perform duties to help generate money for the fund, no matter how little,” Lekatile added.

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