The Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS on 15 May 2026 delivered its judgment in Case No ECW/CCJ/APP/05/25 brought by a non governmental organisation alleging violations of rights of awaiting-trial inmates in Nigeria’s correctional facilities.
In its judgment, the Court held that the prolonged detention of a substantial number of awaiting-trial inmates and the resulting overcrowded prison conditions in Nigeria’s correctional facilities breached the rights to liberty, dignity, fair hearing, presumption of innocence and the right to be tried within a reasonable time, as well as equality before the law as guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR). It ordered the Respondent State – Nigeria to undertake immediate institutional and corrective measures aimed at addressing the deficiencies within its criminal justice and correctional systems.
