Africa · Western Africa

Nigeria

High confidence

Verified 20 May 2026 · Data dated 4 May 2026

Fresh · 1mo ago

Severe pre-trial backlog. Federal correctional service publishes occupancy quarterly.

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.

Prison population

80,380

Year: 2026

Rate per 100,000

Per 100,000 residents

Occupancy

125.6%

Above design capacity

Pre-trial / remand

65.4%

Share not yet sentenced

Female prisoners

2.3%

Foreign nationals

0.3%

Conditions risk — across 471 facilities

Average of our computed Conditions Risk Score across the country's facilities. Methodology · Browse highest-risk

21/100

national average

2 moderate 1 low 468 unknown

retentionist on capital punishment. Last known execution: 2016.Methods: hanging, firing squadICCPR-OP2 (death-penalty abolition protocol): not a signatory

Seeded from Amnesty International 2024 categorisation + Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide.

Source: Amnesty International + Cornell Death Penalty Worldwide.

1 documented human-rights cases →

How Nigeria compares

vs Africa (8) & global averages

Rate per 100,000this: 34 · region: 220 · global: 214

Occupancy ratethis: 126% · region: 167% · global: 125%

Pre-trial sharethis: 65% · region: 30% · global: 32%

The vertical ticks mark the global (grey) and regional (amber) means. Bars are clipped at the high end for readability.

Prison population over time

Annual figures, latest survey year

2000: 44,450+85.3% over 24y2024: 82,382

Source: World Prison Brief / unodc

Prisons in Nigeria

Browse all 471 →

471 facilities in our database — showing the first 24.

Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Aba Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Aba Medium Security Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Medium Security Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Abak Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Abakaliki Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Abakaliki Medium Security Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Medium Security Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Abeokuta Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Abeokuta Medium Security Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Medium Security Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Abuja Medium Security Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Medium Security Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Adim Farm

Nigeria

Type

Farm Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Ado-ekiti Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Ado-Ekiti Medium Security Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Medium Security Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Afikpo Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Agaie Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Agbor Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Ago-iwoye Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Agodi Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Agodogo Prison

Nigeria

Type

—

Capacity

—

Held

—

Aguata Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Ahoada Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Akure Medium Security Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Medium Security Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Alkaleri Satellite Prison, Bauchi

Nigeria

Type

Satellite

Capacity

—

Held

—

Ankpa Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

Argungu Custodial Centre

Nigeria

Type

Custodial Centre

Capacity

—

Held

—

See all 471 prisons in Nigeria →

Data completeness

100%

Score based on how many fields are populated. We surface this so you know where the gaps are.

National population: 238,120,0002026
Source-verified: 20 May 2026
Source links: 1 cited

Sources

Direct citations for the figures on this page.

Primary reference
World Prison Brief (ICPS, Birkbeck) — Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research
See /data-sources for our methodology.

ISO 3166-1 alpha-3: NGA