The Monrovia Central Prison in Liberia has begun turning away new inmates due to overcrowding and fears of disease outbreaks.
There have also been reports that prison guards in Liberia were on strike over delays in salaries and were refusing to admit new inmates.
Prison officials have however denied these claims as they said the reason for this was because they could no longer admit inmates due to lack of space.
Minister of Justice, Frank Musa Dean revealed to the BBC that those being denied admission at the facility were inmates accused of minor offences.
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“Where no damage was done or nobody was wounded, people arrested on minor charges are to instead be returned to communities and kept under the watch of community leaders,” Mr Dean said.
The prison which is the largest in the country was built to hold around 300 inmates when the population of Monrovia was about 300,000. It now holds over 1,600 inmates as the population of the city has increased to about 1.5 million people.
“Of course when there is an increase in population, correspondingly there’s an increase in crime rate,” Mr. Dean said.
The minister also revealed that the ministry of public works is working on a blueprint to construct additional wings of the prison that will take up to 1,000 inmates.