A report obtained from the Lagos Criminal Information System has revealed that about 14,636 inmates are struggling for space meant to accommodate only 4,087 persons in the five federal government prisons in the metropolis.
The report covered the condition of Lagos prisons up till last December.
The report, which frowned at the crowded nature of the prisons, also noted that the unfriendly condition was making prisoners more vicious instead of reforming them.
According to the report, the total capacity for the prisons in Lagos State, namely, Ikoyi, Badagry, Kirikiri Female, Medium and Maximum Security Prisons, was for 4,087, overshooting the capacity by over 9,247 inmates.
About 75 per cent of the total number of inmates at the Federal Prisons in Lagos State, according to the record, were Awaiting Trial, while only 17 per cent of the total number had been convicted and six per cent were on remand.
The report stated that prisons in the state had become grossly inadequate to cater for the increasing number of inmates, thereby lending credence to the call by the Lagos State government for the construction and provision of new prison facilities in the state.
The document, which captured the third quarter of 2018, indicated that theft remained the most prevailing offence for which inmates were incarcerated.
This was closely followed by offences ranging from breach of peace, cultism, fighting, murder and armed robbery.
The report also noted that the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice issued a total of 358 pieces of legal advice from the same number of duplicate case files received.
Shedding more light on crime demography in Lagos State, the report showed that “top five locations where inmates committed offences were Mushin, Apapa, Oshodi, Agege and Ibeju-Lekki, while cases of defilement constituted 59 per cent among domestic and sexual offenders, with rape and sexual assault having 20 and nine per cent.
