Author(s): ABBIYESUKU TAMUNOEMI A. | Vol. 22 (1) April, 2025
Abstract
Inmates while observing the sentence of a court or awaiting trial in correctional custody do not totally lose their rights as human beings and therefore enjoy certain basic rights despite being confined to a correctional Centre. This article examines the institutional frameworks protecting the rights of inmates in Nigeria. The institutional framework protecting the rights of Nigerian inmates at the African regional and international fronts was examined. The principal aim of this article is to examine the institutional frameworks protecting the Nigerian inmates’ rights and make a case for reform, while the specific objective is to identify institutions saddled with the responsibility of the protecting rights of the Nigerian inmates. The doctrinal research methodology was adopted and reliance was made extensively on primary and secondary sources, through the utilization of international instruments, regional laws, and domestic laws, among others. This article finds that the institutional frameworks protecting the rights of the inmates in Nigeria are the Judiciary, Nigerian Police, National Human Rights Commission, Nigerian Correctional Service, Legal Aid Council, Administration of Justice Commission, and Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee, among others. This article finds also that at the regional and international front, the institutional frameworks protecting the rights of Nigerian inmates are the Africa Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Africa Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations Human Rights Council, Committee Against Torture, among others. This article discovered and concluded that the domestic institutional frameworks, particularly the National Human Commission, Nigeria Correctional Service and Legal Aid Council are inactive in the protection of the rights of Nigerian inmates. Therefore, this article recommends that the domestic institutional frameworks protecting the rights of Nigerian inmates should be more proactive in ensuring the monitoring and protection of the rights of Nigerian inmates. Also, the sections Legal Aid Act,[1]dealing with the mandate of the Legal Aid Council should be amended to create a special section of the Legal Aid Council to be specifically in charge of inmates’ rights enforcement.
*LL.B (Hons), LL.M (RSU), BL (Abuja), PhD Research Candidate (RSU), Senior Lecturer, Department of Law, School of Legal and Global Studies, Port Harcourt Polytechnic, Rumuola, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. tamunoemi.abbiyesuku@portharcourtpoly.edu.ng, 08037632537.
[1] Legal Aid Act, 2011. Cap L9, LFN 2004. S8 and S9.
Keywords: Rights, Inmates, Institutional frameworks, Institutions, Inmates Rights.