Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has urged the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, to reconsider a plan aimed at paying fines totaling N500 million for 4,000 convicts to decongest Nigerian prisons.

The Minister had recently announced this plan as a way to alleviate prison overcrowding by settling the fines imposed on the convicts by various courts across the country.

However, Falana disagreed with the approach, suggesting that the government should allocate the money to prison rehabilitation instead.

He proposed working with the attorney general and state governors to grant pardons to prisoners.

While praising the Interior Minister’s initiative, Falana emphasized the need to reevaluate the plan.

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He stated, “The N500 million earmarked for payment of fines should be spent on the welfare of inmates in the correctional centers while alternative decongestion policies are considered.”

Falana recommended that the Minister seek the assistance of the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chief Judges of all states and the Federal Capital Territory.

They could visit correctional centers and exercise their powers under the Criminal Justice (Release from Custody) (Special Provisions) Act to order the release of inmates who are unlawfully detained or have been in custody for durations exceeding the maximum sentences for their offenses.

He also drew attention to the plight of numerous inmates in the Ikoyi Correctional Centre, whose case files were destroyed during the #EndSARS protests in October 2020.

Falana urged the Interior Minister to facilitate the immediate release of these inmates, as they can no longer be prosecuted due to the loss of their case records.