The number of inmates awaiting trial in Lagos increased by 41.7 per cent in 2019, statistics released by the state Ministry of Justice has shown.
The statistics was obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria from the Lagos State Criminal Information System, LCIS on Thursday.
It shows that 5,130 inmates awaited trial in the five custodial centres in the state in 2019 compared to 2,989 awaiting trial inmates recorded in 2018.
According to the data, 1,460 convictions were recorded in 2019 which is 14.6 per cent high compared to 1,246 convictions in 2018.
It also revealed that 17, 346 inmates were discharged or released on bail in 2019 compared to 6,159 in 2018.
The statistics showed that 1,365 legal advice were issued in 2019 by the state Directorate of Public Prosecution, with 15 case files pending.
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It added that inmates with legal representation in 2019 were 992, indicating 50 per cent increase over 493 in 2018.
“This may be connected to the activities of agencies such as the Office of Public Defender and Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership Office as well as the Nigerian Bar Association branches providing pro bono legal services,” the LCIs report said.
The report said there was a 450 per cent decrease in the number of juvenile inmates which stood at 12 in 2019 compared to 66 in 2018.
“The Lagos State Government toward end of last quarter of 2019 facilitated the extraction of juvenile inmates to appropriate juvenile/correctional facilities in the state,” it added.
NAN
