Exposing an Unjust System
Nigeria – FIJ: Holding power to account
The Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) is a non-profit newsroom in Nigeria committed to holding power to account through deep investigative reporting. FIJ focuses on corruption, social justice, and systemic failures. They aim to ease and influence their audience’s everyday decision-making by bypassing propaganda and delivering factual information through stories that drive institutional change and spark public discourse.
- Nigeria
- FIJ
- 2025/2026
- Nigeria
- FIJ
- 2025/2026
MAIN REVENUE MODEL
> The Story
This is a three-part investigation series produced by Daniel Ojukwu and Ayo Oladiran from the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) that ran in October 2025. Together, the parts map a supply chain of neglect: public funds budgeted for inmate welfare disappear through procurement fraud, leaving inmates to survive through an informal shadow economy. Daniel and Ayo compiled first-person testimonies, video evidence from inside cells, affidavits, EFCC petitions, procurement contract documents, and on-the-record interviews with officials to produce these reports that exposed an unjust system.
Read Part One, Part Two and Part Three here.
Impact Summary:
External Network Impact
Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison was ranked the worst prison in Africa in October 2025, with rights organisations and international monitors noting that five of the ten worst prisons on the continent are in Nigeria. FIJ’s Starved Behind Bars series was cited in the coverage of that ranking, amplifying the investigation’s reach into international discourse on African prison conditions.
This series was referenced in subsequent coverage by other Nigerian outlets (The Punch, The Guardian, ThisDay) on prison reform, contributing to a broader national discourse that drew legislative attention.
The House of Representatives Committee on Reformatory Institutions made a courtesy visit to the Interior Ministry specifically to discuss correctional reform.
External Individual Impact
The series extended its reach beyond publication through downstream citation, ranking data, and ongoing coverage.
Internal Network Impact
The investigation forms a thread in an evolving body of accountability work at FIJ on the same beat: a November 2025 investigation into the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) revealed discrepancies in the organisational contracts.
In May 2025, FIJ reported on NCoS’s public claims about inmate feeding.
FIJ’s follow-up reporting demonstrates sustained audience engagement on the beat, with the original series serving as an ongoing reference point for correctional service accountability in Nigeria.
External Institutional Impact
The series generated direct, documented responses from the state, as well as a government fact-check that FIJ was able to rebut with data.
Since the report went public, the country’s Ministry of Interior was unable to deny the claims. Instead, insiders revealed that they were probing 27 prison officials over several allegations, the Interior minister announced the purchase of beds for inmates, changes in the food, and improved monitoring to reduce human rights abuses. However, soundbites from within the prisons suggest that the changes are not significant enough to uphold inmates’ human rights, but incidences of abuse have reduced.
4,068 inmates freed; ₦585m in fines cancelled
The government reported freeing 4,068 inmates and cancelling fines totalling ₦585 million — a tangible, measurable step toward decongestion that officials publicly linked to the reform momentum around correctional facilities.
NCoS forced to respond publicly — and contradicted by data
The NCoS issued a formal statement rejecting the reporting, calling it “recycled, misleading and false.” It confirmed the daily feeding allowance had been raised to ₦1,125. FIJ’s follow-up investigation, using the National Bureau of Statistics’ own food-price data, demonstrated that ₦1,125 was still below the cost of one nutritious meal per day, publicly undermining the government’s defence.
Independent investigative panel convened
In September 2024 — in the lead-up to the series — the Interior Ministry inaugurated an independent panel to probe corruption, abuse of power, and torture within the NCoS. Public hearings continued into 2025, with the Permanent Secretary chairing sessions and citing the need to implement the NCoS Act 2019 in full. Several officers at Kirikiri’s Maximum and Minimum Custodial Centres were suspended.
