In the past 10 years, a total of 3,968 Nigerians have been convicted and jailed for different crimes in the United States’ federal prisons, a document exclusively obtained by Peoples Gazette shows.
The document lists the names of Nigerians, their crimes, and the years they were jailed, from 2016 to 2025.
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons declined to release the mugshots or any images of the incarcerated Nigerians, citing privacy, safety, and security reasons.
“The Bureau of Prisons does not release mugshots or intake photographs except for individuals who are actively on escape status,” stated the BOP.
According to the BOP document, 1,978 were jailed for fraud, bribery, and extortion, while 828 were sent to prison for “unspecified” crimes.
However, the BOP told The Gazette that “some individuals don’t have an offence listed. That just means that we don’t have their sentencing information yet.”
Four hundred and thirty-three Nigerians were sentenced for “burglary/larceny”, and 422 Nigerians were jailed for drug trafficking-related crimes from 2016 to 2025.
Seventy-four were jailed for immigration fraud, while 64 were jailed for illegal possession of weapons and explosives.
Based on the document, roughly 400 Nigerians were jailed in U.S. federal prisons every year between 2016 and 2025.
Prominent among Nigerians jailed in the federal prisons from 2016 to 2025 are Umar Abdulmutallab, the ‘underwear bomber’.
Mr Abdulmutallab was jailed in 2016 for a failed attempt to blow up an American aircraft.
Other prominent guests on the BOP list are Bidemi Rufai, Obinwanne Okeke, and Ramon ‘Hushpuppi’ Abbas, jailed for their respective multimillion-dollar internet fraud schemes.
Download the document to see the full list of Nigerians jailed in U.S. federal prisons between 2016 and 2025 here.