ABUJA – Daily feeding allowance for inmates in Nigeria is set to be increased, local news outlets reported, citing an official.
According to a spokesperson for the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) in the northern state of Nasarawa, the feeding allowance will be increased from ₦750 to ₦1,150 per day, this amount is less than 1 U.S. dollar.
The Nasarawa state NCoS command’s spokesperson Stephen Abene said the increment would be reflected in the proposed 2025 budget.
Abene explained that the adjustment aimed to align with current economic realities.
“The government recently approved N1150 for feeding per inmate from N750, which will be captured in the 2025 budget. This upward review is to meet up with the present economic reality,” he said.
Concerned citizens and institutions had been lending their voices towards the calls for the increment of inmates’ feeding allowances after NCoS Controller General, Haliru Nababa, disclosed that the prisoner’s food allowance was N750 per day, with a viral video emerging recently from the Afokang Custodial Centre in Calabar, Cross River State, showing poorly prepared meals being served to inmates.
The NCoS had then stated that what was seen in the video did not reflect the general standard of care across facilities but added that an investigation would be carried out.
Most recently, a report claimed that 12 inmates at the Keffi Medium Security Custodial Centre in Nasarawa State died in September 2024 from an illness linked to inadequate nutrition.
($1 = 1,641.57 naira)