The Federal Government says the number of repeat offenders within the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has dropped from 11,616 in 2023 to 1,382 in 2025, attributing the decline to sustained rehabilitation and reformation programmes.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo who disclosed this on Wednesday during the presentation of an investigative report on the NCoS, described the figures as evidence that the administration’s correctional agenda was producing results.
“Recidivism was 11,616 when we came in in 2023 but in 2025 it came down to 1,382 recidivists. It means that our reformation programmes are bearing fruits. The point is that we are no longer where we were. We are making progress,” he said.
The minister also revealed that 15,632 inmates were admitted into custody in May 2026 alone, while 14,190 were released under various terms of imprisonment during the same period.
Figures presented at the event showed a consistent year-on-year decline — from 11,616 in 2023 to 3,156 in 2024, then to 1,382 in 2025. Tunji-Ojo said the government would not consider the job done until the number reached zero.
“For us, not until recidivism gets to zero, we cannot say we have succeeded,” he said.
He pledged that the investigative report would not be consigned to the shelves, announcing plans to develop an implementation framework backed by a monitoring and evaluation committee.
“This report will not gather dust on the shelves. We are going to be very aggressive in terms of implementation,” Tunji-Ojo said, adding that the government was already working on relocating correctional centres swallowed up by urban expansion.
He named facilities in Suleja, constructed in 1914, and Ikoyi, built in 1955, as falling short of international standards, including the mandatory 100-metre buffer zone. Centres in Enugu, Abakaliki, Ibadan and Lagos were equally flagged for relocation owing to their surroundings — some sitting beside markets, others directly opposite government offices.
The minister called on state governments to partner with the Federal Government on the relocation exercise, noting that the burden of custodial management was largely a state responsibility.
“When we share the assets, we should also think of sharing the liabilities. About 90% of these inmates are state offenders, not federal offenders, and 67% are awaiting trial,” he said.
He confirmed that President Bola Tinubu had approved a 50 per cent increment in inmate feeding allowances, which had already taken effect, and challenged civil society to hold the service accountable for its implementation.
“It is now the responsibility of civil society and all Nigerians to hold the Correctional Service accountable for improvement in the feeding of inmates, because Mr President has approved it and the Ministry of Finance has started paying,” he said.
Permanent Secretary Dr Magdalene Ajani said the investigative panel visited 86 custodial centres across 23 states during its work, while Controller General of Corrections Sylvester Ndidi Nwakuche described the panel’s inauguration as an act of accountability rather than condemnation.
Wednesday’s presentation followed a stakeholders’ engagement held in March, during which Tunji-Ojo had vowed to sanction NCoS personnel found to have violated inmates’ rights. The probe was triggered by a 2024 incident involving cross-dresser Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky. An Assistant Controller General found culpable in the investigation has since been relieved of duty. The NCoS also runs 18 National Open University of Nigeria study centres within its facilities, with plans to extend the programme to all custodial centres nationwide.