The Federal Government has revealed that all the 64 Boko Haram terrorists at the Kuje prison have escaped during an attack on the facility by unidentified gunmen on Tuesday night.
This was made known on Wednesday by the Minister of Defence, Major General (Rtd.) Bashir Magashi, after an assessment tour of the facility, where he said that there are indications that terrorists attacked the facility to set free their members being held in detention.
Magashi, who said that the attack started around 10:30pm with heavy gunfire and explosions, added that they came in their numbers, gained entrance into the prison and released some of the inmates who are now at large.
What the Minister of Defence is saying
Magashi explained that the Federal Government is working hard to ensure that other fleeing inmates were being recaptured and brought back to the facility.
The Minister said, “Very soon, we will give you the correct figure of the inmates that were taken, aside that, we are trying to see what we can do to ensure that all escapees are returned.
“The prison is accommodating about 994 inmates, over 600 escaped and many have been recaptured and brought back to the prison.
“Maybe by the close of the day, more will have been captured and returned.
“I think everything is under control and the people who came to do this activity, from the records, we believe they belong to a particular group.
“Most likely, they are Boko Haram members because we have a sizeable number of Boko Haram suspects in detention, and presently we cannot locate any of them.
“I think they are about 64 in the prison and none of them is available now, they have all escaped.’’
What you should know
- Recall that the Nigeria Correctional Service had confirmed an attack on the Medium Security Custodial, Kuje on Tuesday night.
- The attack comes a few hours after the Department of Security Service (DSS) alerted the authorities of an impending attack on Kuje prison.
- While stating that the attack was repelled, an official of the Nigeria Correctional Service did not give specific details as to how many prisoners escaped and officers affected.