● Tunji-Ojo: Repeat offenders fell from 11,616 in 2023 to 1,382 in 2025 as 14,190 inmates exited in May
The Federal Government says repeat offending in Nigerian prisons has dropped sharply, crediting intensified rehabilitation programmes under President Bola Tinubu’s administration for the decline.
Minister of Interior Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo announced the figures Wednesday in Abuja while presenting an investigative report on the Nigerian Correctional Service, NCoS.
Tunji-Ojo said recidivism, the rate at which ex-inmates return to custody, fell from 11,616 in 2023 when the administration took office, to 3,156 in 2024, and further to 1,382 in 2025.
“Recidivism was 11,616 when we came in 2023, but in 2025 it came down to 1,382 recidivists. It means that our reformation programmes are bearing fruits. The point is that we are no longer where we were. We are making progress,” the minister stated.
He attributed the decline to vocational training, formal education and life-skills programmes designed to equip inmates for life after release.
Despite the 88% drop, Tunji-Ojo said government would not relent until repeat offending hits zero.
“For us, not until recidivism gets to zero, we cannot say we have succeeded,” he said.
The minister also released May 2025 custody data showing 15,632 inmates were admitted into correctional centres nationwide, while 14,190 inmates were released under various legal and administrative processes within the same month.
The figures highlight continued congestion in custodial centres even as reforms push to decongest facilities and shift focus from punishment to rehabilitation.
Analysts say the sharp fall in recidivism could reshape criminal justice outcomes, improve public safety, and validate FG’s push to transform prisons into reintegration hubs.
