At least 49 inmates at the Medium Security Correctional Centre in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, have reportedly spent more than a decade awaiting trial, exposing the human cost of prolonged detention and delays in Nigeria’s criminal justice system.

Sources inside the facility disclosed the figure during an inspection of the centre on September 2, 2026.

According to the sources, some of the inmates have spent more than 10 years in custody without their cases being concluded, while others allegedly face difficulties because their case files are unavailable.

Some inmates were reportedly arrested over relatively minor offences, while sources also alleged that others were detained in connection with activism.

The prolonged detention means that people who have not been convicted of the offences for which they were arrested have spent years behind bars.

The situation is particularly troubling because the Nigerian Constitution guarantees the right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time.

The problem is not entirely new at Eket.

In 2023, the Akwa Ibom Chief Judge released six inmates from the facility after finding that they had spent between two and three years in custody without case files to charge them to court.

In March 2026, another eight inmates were released from Eket during a jail-delivery exercise conducted by the state Chief Judge, with the judiciary citing compassionate grounds and want of prosecution.

The Chief Judge has repeatedly raised concerns about prolonged detention.

In March, Justice Ekaete Fabian-Obot said it was unconstitutional to keep suspects in custody for prolonged periods without trial.

The problem is compounded by the centre’s transportation crisis.

Transport

The Officer-in-Charge, Chief Superintendent of Corrections Samuel Bassey, recently said over 40 awaiting-trial inmates were unable to attend court because the centre had no functional vehicles.

The revelation was made on Tuesday, September 1, when a forum of Eket Federal Constituency media professionals (EFCMP), led by its Chairman, Comrade Enobong Nsimah, visited the facility to assess its condition and explore ways of providing pro bono legal assistance to inmates without legal representation.

Akwa

He said some inmates transferred to the facility from Nsit Ubium Local Government Area as far back as 2023 had never appeared in court because of the transportation problem.

“About 46 inmates are unable to appear in court. It is difficult to take the inmates to court without having operational vehicles,” Bassey said.

According to him, more than 40 inmates on the awaiting-trial list have remained at the centre because there is no functional escort van or other vehicle to transport them to court. He also disclosed that the roofs of the sections housing inmates had deteriorated badly and leaked heavily whenever it rained, leaving the inmates soaked.

In 2025, the Chief Judge released inmates across the state’s correctional facilities on grounds including excessive remand periods, lack of diligent prosecution, missing case files, health conditions and compassionate considerations. The judiciary said some inmates had already spent longer in custody than the maximum sentence they might have received if convicted.

Nurses under the Lagos State Health Service Commission (HSC) have raised concerns over alleged compulsory financial contributions imposed on them for the retirement celebrations of senior nursing officers.

The controversy followed an internal notice informing nurses that they must contribute money according to their grade levels, towards the retirement of Nurse Cole Adebukola, Director of Nursing Services at Lagos State Health Service, and Nurse Awobajo Oluranti of the Directorate of Nursing.

According to the notice, Nurse Cole is scheduled to retire on December 18, 2026, while Nurse Awobajo is expected to retire on December 11, 2026.

The notice directed nurses to contribute according to their grade levels, with those on Grade Levels 15 to 17 asked to contribute N25,000, while nurses on Grade Levels 12 to 14 were assigned N15,000 contribution.

Nurses on Grade Levels 8 to 10 were mandated to contribute N10,000, while those on Grade Level 7 were asked to pay N5,000.

According to report, the notice instructed nurses to make the payments to their respective ward managers for onward collation to the HSC.

“Payment should be made to your ward managers, for onward collation to HSC,” the notice stated.

Report says the directive has triggered anger among some nurses who questioned why workers should be required to finance celebrations for their superiors at a time of economic hardship.

The development has provoked reactions from The Elegant Nurses Forum. issued a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Nurse Thomas Abiodun Olamide, declaring that nurses were workers and should not be treated as personal sources of funding for retirement ceremonies, weddings or other private celebrations.

The ENF condemned the practice as exploitation, accusing the HSC of turning nurses into “ATM machines” for bosses’ parties.

The group demanded an immediate end to compulsory contributions for retirement ceremonies, weddings, birthdays and other private celebrations involving senior officers or their family members.

“The Elegant Nurses Forum considers this development unacceptable and strongly condemns any attempt to force or intimidate Nurses into making financial contributions for a celebration they may not be willing or financially able to support,” the ENF said.

The group said the alleged practice was particularly troubling because nurses were already dealing with economic hardship, poor welfare, inadequate remuneration and rising living costs.

It also alleged that nurses had previously been pressured to contribute towards the wedding of a senior officer’s child.

“We find it extremely disturbing that Nurses, who are already struggling to survive, could be subjected to repeated financial demands for private celebrations involving their superiors or members of their families,” ENF said.

The group argued that while colleagues should be free to voluntarily support one another, official positions should not be used to transform voluntary contributions into compulsory payments.

“Nobody should be punished, intimidated, threatened or victimised for refusing to contribute money to a private celebration,” the group said.

According to the group, retirement should be treated as an institutional milestone rather than a financial burden imposed on already struggling workers.

It called on the HSC to take responsibility for retirement ceremonies it chooses to organise rather than shifting the financial burden to individual nurses.

The ENF said nurses were already spending significant portions of their income on professional development and additional qualifications, sometimes taking loans or borrowing money to advance their careers.

The group argued that nurses who acquire additional qualifications and meet relevant requirements should receive appropriate career progression and financial recognition.

It further linked nurses’ welfare to patient care, warning that workplace financial pressure and intimidation could affect the psychological wellbeing of healthcare workers.

“The welfare of Nurses is a patient-safety issue,” the ENF said, demanding an immediate end to compulsory or coercive contributions towards Cole’s retirement celebration and similar events involving other officers.

The group also called on the Lagos State Government and HSC to investigate complaints of compulsory financial contributions and determine whether official authority had been used to pressure nurses for money.

It urged relevant anti-corruption agencies to investigate credible allegations of financial coercion involving public servants and establish whether any financial, administrative or anti-corruption rules had been breached.

The ENF further demanded a confidential and independent mechanism through which nurses could report alleged financial coercion and workplace intimidation without fear of retaliation.

The group said all contributions from workers towards social events should be genuinely voluntary, with no threats, intimidation, victimisation or career consequences attached to refusal.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is considering a mock presidential election ahead of the 2027 polls to test voter accreditation, result transmission and result viewing under conditions similar to actual election day.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, made the call Wednesday in Abuja while speaking at the 13th Annual International Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN).

Amupitan, whose keynote address was delivered by National Commissioner, Sani Adam, SAN, said the credibility of the electoral process does not depend on Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and result sheets, but also on how information about electoral processes was understood and trusted by Nigerians.

He called for the integration of electoral technology and communication as a single discipline ahead of the 2027 general elections, warning that artificial intelligence-driven disinformation poses a major threat to the credibility of the polls.

On the growing use of artificial intelligence to manipulate information, the INEC chairman said generative AI had made the production of fake videos, audio recordings and images cheaper and increasingly difficult to detect.

He cited cases of manipulated political content circulated during recent elections in West and East Africa, including doctored materials linked to Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election.

Amupitan warned that such materials could reach millions of social media users before fact-checkers were able to verify them.

He said the threat went beyond outright fabrication, noting that algorithmic micro-targeting could allow different and sometimes contradictory messages to be delivered to specific segments of the electorate without a common factual basis.

“The challenge before us is therefore not merely technological. It is communicative,” he said, stressing the need for closer coordination between electoral technology and public communication.

On preparations for the 2027 elections, Amupitan said INEC had proposed a substantial budget with significant allocations for election technology and operations.

He said the proposal included funds for new accreditation devices to replace those lost or damaged during the last electoral cycle.

The chairman, however, said the full release of the funds was still being awaited, although the commission’s ICT team had commenced engagements with manufacturers on the procurement process.

He added that preparations for the technology audit and proposed mock election were continuing alongside the budget process.

The conference, held at the National Open University Conference Centre, Abuja, had as its theme: “Media, Technology and Elections in Africa: Navigating Digital Disruption and the New Dynamics of Electoral Communication.”

The INEC chairman said the deployment of BVAS and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) was intended to address a longstanding credibility gap by allowing citizens to view polling unit results before they were taken to collation centres.

He, however, acknowledged that the 2023 general elections demonstrated how electoral technology could become a source of public suspicion when systems failed or did not perform as expected.

According to him, electoral legitimacy could only be sustained when technological systems were reliable, properly understood by citizens and when their shortcomings were openly explained disclosing that the commission is conducting a comprehensive audit of its electoral technology infrastructure, including system redundancy, penetration testing and disaster recovery arrangements.

Amupitan outlined a five-point strategy for strengthening the commission’s response to the emerging information challenges.

He called for the integration of technology and communication planning; establishment of a rapid-response mechanism capable of countering false information within the same news cycle; proactive communication about known vulnerabilities and safeguards; stronger partnerships with media scholars, fact-checkers and technology platforms; and sustained investment in public media literacy.

The INEC chairman invited ACSPN and other communication scholars to establish structured partnerships with INEC on media literacy research, detection of synthetic content and training for journalists and civic educators.

Amupitan said the electorate for the 2027 elections would be younger and more reliant on mobile technology than previous generations, with smartphones likely to become the primary channel through which many voters would receive election-related information.
He, however, cautioned against simply copying technological solutions adopted in other countries, saying such measures must be adapted to Nigeria’s realities, including uneven internet access, language diversity and the level of public trust in institutions.