Despite Nigeria’s Child Rights Act banning imprisonment of minors, thousands of children are still detained alongside adults, facing abuse, torture, and lifelong trauma.
Nigeria’s justice system continues to fail its most vulnerable citizens as children are detained alongside adults in violation of national and international laws, exposing them to abuse, trauma, and long-term psychological harm.
In 2020, 13-year-old Omar Farouq was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Sharia court in Kano for alleged blasphemy—a ruling later overturned after global outrage. Similarly, Segun Olowookere, sentenced to death at 17 for stealing hens, spent over a decade in Kirikiri Prison before his release in 2024. Both cases highlight Nigeria’s disregard for the Child Rights Act (CRA), which forbids the imprisonment or corporal punishment of minors.
A 2018–2022 joint study by the Nigerian government, UNICEF, and the European Union revealed that over 133,000 children and young adults were held in detention nationwide. Many were accused of minor offences such as theft or wandering. The report found that 24 per cent of children in custody suffered physical or psychological abuse, while most incidents went unpunished.
Experts warn that incarceration leaves lasting scars. “Putting children and adolescents into correctional facilities could sometimes cause more harm than good,” said psychiatrist Dr Yesiru Kareem.
Psychologist Aisha Bubah added, “We need to end the detention of children in adult prisons. It exposes them to so much that can end up being more detrimental than rehabilitation.”
Despite repeated government pledges, minors remain behind bars, often due to poor age verification, lack of juvenile facilities, and systemic neglect—making Nigeria’s child justice system one that punishes rather than protects.