Lagos advocates alternative sentencing to decongest prison

Lagos State government has advocated for the adoption of alternative sentencing to decongest prisons in the state.


The Director,  Directorate for Citizens’ Rights, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Mrs Tola Akinsanya, made the  call  after the directorate’s Prison Watch team ‘s quarterly   visit to the Ikoyi  Prison on Friday.

She said: “Sentences for  criminal conviction can take many forms, and a conviction doesn’t always mean a trip to jail or prison. Alternative sentences can include different combinations of the following: a suspended sentence, probation, fines, restitution, community service and deferred adjudication/pretrial diversion.

Lamenting the challenge of over population of inmates at the Ikoyi Prison which has a capacity for 800 inmates, she said: “It is unfortunate that  there are about 2419 inmates  awaiting trial out of the total  2933 inmates. From our investigation, the reason for this include lack of legal representation, inability to pay fines imposed  and inability to perfect bail conditions in court . “Hence, the magistrates are  constrained to commit them to prison pending the time they have legal representation or  when they can meet the bail conditions or pay the fines imposed on them.

Related posts

24 Internet Fraudsters Arrested by EFCC in Edo

Over 150 People Rescued from Niger Boat Incident, Says NSEMA

Russia Takes Control of Vuhledar After Two Years of Ukrainian Defiance