Akpan Udo-Inyang
CALABAR – A total of 531 inmates, comprising 520 males and 11 females are awaiting trial at the Afokang Correctional Centre in Calabar South Local Government Area of Cross River State.
An inspection of the facility on Monday, August 31, 2026, by the Student’s Right Academy, revealed that the centre, originally built for about 450 inmates, is now housing 784, translating to 334 above its designed capacity.
According to data provided during the visit, those convicted are 170, those on death row 48 while 35 are serving life imprisonment,
According to A. E. Edet, Chief Superintendent of Corrections who conducted the students around the facility, the awaiting trial inmates make up of about 68 per cent of the total population.
Edet, raised fresh questions about access to timely justice and prolonged detention of suspects who have not been convicted identifying delays in case determination and prosecution as the main drivers of overcrowding.
The Department of Public Prosecutions was also cited as a key part of the process where bottlenecks prolong detention.
The chief superintendent, also was concern of the infrequency of jail delivery exercises as the Chief Judge of Cross River State who has the authority to conduct the exercises, visited Afokang last in September 2025.
The Rights Academy is an intensive youth training programme run by We The People (WTP),formally known as the Center for Social Studies, Research, and Advocacy based in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.
With core focus and purpose, the Academy is designed to build the capacity of young citizens to become active agents of change and advocates for social transformation.
It provides a learning framework focused on two primary pillars of Human Rights: Empowering youth to identify, report, and combat human rights abuses.
The students were led on the facility tour by their Academic Prefect Mr ,Jude Edu.