Protection of Human Rights of Female Inmates with Wards in Nigerian Correctional Facilities

According to the statistics of World Prison Brief, correction facilities in Nigeria are male-dominated; they constitute over 93% while female inmates only constitute an estimate of 1.7%. These facilities are characterized by overcrowding, unhealthy, deplorable and inhuman conditions. It is apposite to state that some of these female inmates are pregnant, others have wards they are nursing. It has been observed that, notwithstanding the vulnerability of the afore-mentioned category of persons, little or no attention is paid to their special conditions and their human rights violated. This paper therefore examines some of the plights of female inmates in Nigerian correctional facilities. It recommends among other things that, the Nigerian government should consider specific institutional action-plan to deal with this vulnerable category of inmates and guarantee their fundamental human rights in line with the Constitution of Nigeria, regional and international standards.

Keywords: Female Inmates, Prisons, Administration of Criminal Justice and fundamental human rights.