A group of men gather in a semi-circle around the pitch, squinting under the hot sun. Though music thumps in the background, the men are quiet, their focus on one figure in the center.
In mock solemnity, the man walks up to the soccer ball placed in the center, eyeing the goal. With a grin and a flourish, he turns around and kicks the ball backwards into the net.
“GOAL!” shout the onlookers, jumping and laughing.
This scene, a testament to the power of sports to bring joy, is all the more remarkable because it happened in a prison, the Otukpo Medium Security Custodial Center in Benue, Nigeria.
Prisoners are often a forgotten population. Many might think about them as separate from the rest of society – but they’re not. The vast majority of prisoners will eventually be released. Therefore, what happens to people during their imprisonment matters – to public safety, our health, our community finances, and our human dignity.
When it comes to sports in prison settings, research shows that they contribute to the physical and mental health of prisoners, reducing stress, depression, and anxiety. They also have wider social and psychological benefits and support the social reintegration and rehabilitation process, including through sport programmes that aim to create linkages and connect the prisons with the society and community services and support ex-offenders into education and employment opportunities.
What’s more, international guidance, including the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules); the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules); and the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (the Havana Rules), all refer to the value of sport and physical activity. Similarly General Assembly resolutions A/RES/74/170 and A/RES/76/183, on “Integrating sport into youth crime prevention and criminal justice strategies” call Members States to take further steps on using sport in supporting social reintegration and prevent recidivism of young offenders.
Yet this is easier said than done. Scant resources; a lack of facilities; security and safety concerns; insufficient capacities amongst prison officials and more can all make implementing sports programmes difficult in prisons.
In other cases, the prisoners themselves may be suffering from poor mental and physical health or a lack of motivation. Certain populations, like older prisoners, women, those with mental and physical disabilities or substance abuse issues are sometimes excluded, raising important issues around equity of access to exercise.
To address these challenges in Nigeria, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) provides capacity building and technical assistance to the Nigerian Correctional Service, so that they can effectively use sports in correctional facilities.
UNODC recently organized a three-day Training of Trainers Workshop for prison officers, civil society organizations, and volunteers. Participants played different sports to build their capacities to engage with prisoners during sports and developed draft sports programmes to implement in their respective institutions.
One participant, the Dream Again Foundation, has already made use of the training at the Medium Security Custodial Center in Otukpo, where they organized the football tournament.
“I personally witnessed the novelty football match,” Ondoma Godwin Aduma, Information Officer at the Nigerian Correctional Service in Otukpo, says, adding that it made a lasting impact on the prisoners.
"Sports in prison can go a long way to reducing crime in our society,” Ondoma reflects, adding that they can also support prisoners after release. “It helps reduce their mental stress and the pains of imprisonment (…) and hope comes back to them.”
Ondoma hopes that initiatives like these will expand and continue to promote social inclusion while preventing violence and crime, both within prisons and in the broader community.
"We are here for reformation and reintegration, to make the inmates better people, and sport programmes can help.”
Deputy Superintendent Of Corrections Agbo Edache Amusa, reflecting on the impact of the tournament, agrees that sports, when properly used, can really transform the lives of prisoners and improve prison conditions.
“I never experienced that before,” he says. “It brings unity, it brings love, it brings the understanding between the inmates and the staff “.
A growing body of research indicates that sport and sport-based programming when properly used can effectively support social reintegration of offenders, especially juveniles and young offenders, and prevent recidivism.
The UN General Assembly High-level Debate on “Crime Prevention and Sustainable Development through Sport”that took place in June 2024 also underlined the importance contribution that sport can have in social reintegration of offenders and highlighted good practice.
UNODC promotes and support the evidence-based use of sport as a crime prevention tool at community and detention settings, in line with UN standards and norms and the integration of sport in relevant strategies and programme.
