The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has said that about 26,000 children enter custodial and remand facilities in Nigeria every year, with 74 per cent held in pre-trial detention and 68 per cent having no lawyer from their first contact with the justice system.
Mrs Sulaiman-Ibrahim disclosed this in a keynote address on Tuesday at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The conference, running from 21 to 28 August under the theme “Beyond Limits,” drew thousands of lawyers, judges and policymakers to the Yakubu Gowon Stadium for a week of professional and policy discussions. The minister’s address came during a plenary session on justice for children, where government officials and child-protection advocates examined how Nigeria can implement diversion policies for children in conflict with the law.
“I want this conference to adopt these numbers as its baseline,” Mrs Sulaiman-Ibrahim said. “About 26,000 children enter custodial and remand facilities every single year in Nigeria. Over 122,000 in five years. Nearly 74 per cent wait in pre-trial detention without a timely hearing opportunity, and some 68 per cent have no lawyer from the first contact.”
