NIGERIAN CORRECTIONAL SERVICE AND NATIONAL SECURITY: AN EVALUATION

Abstract

This study examined the role of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) in strengthening national security covering the period between 2010 and 2025. The study focused on inmate rehabilitation, staff welfare, and institutional reforms aligned with global best practices. The study also reviewed the significance of the NCoS mandate to the maintenance of National Security pursuant to the National Security Strategy of 2019, which has been under review. Despite reforms introduced under the NCoS Act of 2019, persistent issues such as terrorism, poor funding, weak policy implementation, overcrowding, and inadequate infrastructure hindered effective service delivery and posed threats to national security. The study was anchored on the Deterrence Theory of Correctional Security and the Realism Theory of National Security, with the latter adopted as the guiding framework. The Deterrence Theory explains correctional institutions as state mechanisms designed to discourage criminal behaviour through incapacitation and the fear of punishment, while the Realism Theory situates correctional administration within the broader logic of state power, security, and order. By combining both, the study highlights how an effective correctional system contributes to state stability and internal security. A cross-sectional research design was adopted, employing field surveys through open-ended questionnaires and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs). A total of 400 questionnaires were administered to selected respondents, complemented by KIIs within the same strata. Data were analysed descriptively and presented in charts and figures. Findings revealed that NCoS plays a strategic role in strengthening national security but requires holistic implementation of the NCoS Act (2019) to address gaps in funding, rehabilitation, infrastructure, reintegration, deradicalization, and personnel capacity building. The study recommends the establishment of a Correctional Affairs Commission under the Presidency, creation of a Monitoring and Evaluation Department, and development of an NCoS ICT Policy and Strategy (2025–2035) to integrate AI-driven surveillance and communication technologies. It calls for the integration of NCoS activities in the current review of the National Security Strategy. The study contends that holistic implementation of these reforms will strengthen correctional administration and enhance Nigeria’s national security.