Controller of Corrections in Rivers State, Felix Madumere, has raised alarm over worsening overcrowding in custodial centres across the state, warning that the situation may force authorities to lock up the prisons if urgent action is not taken.
Speaking during a press briefing in Port Harcourt, Madumere described the current state of correctional facilities as unsustainable, citing a rising inmate population and lack of support from government authorities.
“We have over 2,500 inmates in a facility designed for 1,800,” he said, referring to the Port Harcourt Custodial Centre. “In Ahoada, we’re holding 281 inmates in a space meant for 200. Degema is no different. If nothing is done, we may as well lock up the prisons.”
Madumere blamed the crisis on systemic failures, including long delays in trials, inadequate mental health care, and the absence of a functional Board of Prerogative of Mercy in the state to review long-standing cases—especially those involving death row inmates and lifers.
He lamented that the correctional service alone cannot handle the growing burden of inmate care and rehabilitation without institutional reforms and government intervention.
“We have no psychiatric facilities to treat inmates suffering mental breakdowns from years of awaiting trial,” he added. “We refer them to hospitals, but they return untreated. Depression is inevitable when a person waits five or six years for trial.”
Madumere urged both the state and local governments to step in by expanding facilities, providing legal aid, and supporting rehabilitation efforts. He commended the state’s Chief Judge for recent jail delivery exercises but emphasised that these efforts alone are not enough to ease the crisis.
