According to NAN, these measures aim to rehabilitate offenders and reduce prison overcrowding by providing punishments that do not involve incarceration.
Nandang added that another 10,406 inmates—comprising 9,207 men and 1,199 women—received similar sentences between January and June 2025.
He, however, noted that in spite of the growing use of these alternatives to incarceration, challenges, such as inadequate funding, limited staffing, and weak judicial collaboration had persisted.
He warned that without stronger institutional support, the long-term effectiveness and sustainability of the non-custodial measures established under the NCoS Act of 2019 remained uncertain.
He said, “Even for inmates on death row, can we also kick-start the process of restorative justice?
Not necessarily with the view that these people should be removed from custodial centres, but that relationships should be restored.”
He called for collaboration with traditional institutions, vigilante groups, and non-state actors, whom he said had already been instrumental in bridging implementation gaps in some areas.
