***Inmates face hunger, starvation ***Prison authorities deny claims, defend feeding system By Henry Ojelu For three years inside the Kirikiri Correctional Centre in Lagos, survival for Mike Okoroafor came down to a daily calculation: find alternative food or go hungry. Convicted for fraud and later discharged by the Court of Appeal, Okoroafor said that while his legal ordeal eventually ended, the struggle to stay nourished in custody remains the most haunting part of his experience. He recalled: “The first week I relied on prison food, my body began to weaken. By the second week, I made up my mind never to depend on it again. That was when I realised that if you don’t find alternatives, you can’t survive.” Okoroafor’s account is not isolated. Interviews with former and current inmates, as well as independent findings by Vanguard, point to a deeply strained feeding system across Nigeria’s correctional centres – one undermined by chronic overcrowding, inadequate funding, weak oversight, and allegations of diversion of food supplies. A system stretched beyond limits Nigeria’s correctional facilities are currently operating far beyond their designed capacity. According to data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, NBS, the inmate population has climbed above 80,000, with about 65 per cent classified as awaiting trial. This imbalance has invariably placed enormous pressure on basic services, particularly feeding. Facilities originally built to house far fewer inmates now struggle to cater to swelling populations. Kitchens designed for hundreds must now feed thousands, often with limited infrastructure and outdated equipment. The result, according to multiple accounts, is a system where both the quality and quantity of meals are compromised. What inmates are fed Across custodial centres, feeding follows a predictable pattern. Breakfast typically consists of pap, beans, or tea and bread. Lunch may include rice and stew, or yam or eba served with soup. Dinner is often a repetition or variation of what was served earlier in the day. Food items are supplied by government contractors and prepared within the prisons, largely by selected inmates using large pots and gas cookers. On paper, the arrangement appears functional. In reality, inmates describe a vastly different picture. “The food is just routine, not nutrition. It is cooked to fill space, not to sustain health,” said Tunde Oyedele, a former inmate of Kirikiri Correctional Centre. His most vivid recollection is the condition of the food itself. “Eating beans there is like chewing stones. They don’t sort it properly. Sometimes the stones are almost half of what you’re given. You spend more time removing stones than eating,” he said. He added that rice served within the facility is often poorly processed and inadequately cooked. “The rice can be worse. Some inmates take their portion, wash it again, and recook it. That is if they can afford to buy pepper or oil. That’s how people manage,” he noted. Another ex-inmate, Adam Aboh, who was released a few months ago, corroborated this but pointed more directly to preparation methods. He said: “The problem is not just quantity, it’s how the food is made. Beans are cooked overnight, and by morning they just add small oil, pepper and seasoning. Then they keep adding water depending on how many people want to eat. It becomes watery and tasteless.” He described meals that, in his words, “even a hungry man would struggle to swallow.” Health consequences For many inmates, the effects of poor feeding go beyond discomfort, they translate into real health challenges. Joyce Edeh, who was held at the Kirikiri Female Correctional Centre, said her time in custody was marked by recurring illness linked to food quality. She said: “I was constantly going to the clinic for stomach pain, weakness and sometimes diarrhoea. The food was not balanced, and sometimes it was outright bad.” She added that cases of malnutrition were not uncommon, particularly among inmates who lacked external support from family or friends. “When you don’t have anyone bringing you food or money, you are forced to depend on what is available. And what is available is not enough to keep you healthy,” she said. Government intervention In response to mounting criticism over prison conditions, the Federal Government, about two years ago, increased the daily feeding allowance per inmate from less than N700 to N1,500. The move was widely seen as a necessary adjustment in light of rising food prices. However, some inmates told Vanguard that the increment has not translated into meaningful improvement. “The amount may have increased on paper, but in reality, it doesn’t go far,” an inmate who did not want his name mentioned s
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