A new report has shown that 74 per cent of children and young adults held in Nigeria’s borstal institutions were either awaiting trial or the outcome of legal reports.

Only 26 per cent of those in custody had been convicted, highlighting significant delays in the juvenile justice process.

Titled “An Assessment of the Situation of Children and Young Adults Deprived of Liberty in Nigeria”, the 2024 report was developed by the Ministry of Interior with support from UNICEF Nigeria.

Published in 2025, the report provides a detailed analysis of the conditions and treatment of minors in conflict with the law.

According to the findings, a total of 133,906 children and young adults were held in detention between 2018 and 2022.

The assessment drew data from 87 adult custodial centres, three borstal institutions, and 22 remand homes. Of the total, 127,526 were male and 6,380 were female.

The majority, 122,564, were detained in adult custodial centres, while 7,375 were in remand homes and 3,967 in borstal institutions.

Alarmingly, 2,120 detainees were under 16 years of age, and 120,444 were between 16 and 20 years.

The report noted stark gender disparities, with males accounting for 95 per cent of the total custodial population.

In remand homes, 85 per cent were male and 15 per cent were female. Most of those in remand homes were aged 11 to 17, with a small fraction under 11 or above 18.

Stealing and theft were the most common offences among children in detention, accounting for 47 per cent of cases in 17 states.

Other offences included rape (2.8 per cent), murder, cultism, and child protection-related detentions such as wandering or being deemed “beyond parental control.”

The report highlighted the lack of access to legal representation as a major factor contributing to the high number of pretrial detentions.

On average, 68.2 per cent of the detainees did not have access to legal aid, correlating with a 64.8 per cent complaint rate about slow justice delivery.

Additional challenges facing detained minors included poor living conditions, exposure to abuse and torture, lack of psychosocial support, inadequate healthcare and education, and overcrowded, unsanitary facilities.

Poverty, family abandonment, and inability to meet bail conditions further compounded their plight.

The report sought urgent reform and collective action to protect the rights and welfare of children and young adults in detention.

It urged stakeholders to build a system where all minors are treated with dignity and afforded equal access to justice. 

(NAN)