The police and the Army are searching for the Koton-Karfi Prison inmates in Kogi State, who were set free by gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents.
A prison source said on Monday that there were about 145 inmates in the 80-year-old prison as of 10pm on Sunday when the gunmen gained entry into the prison by blowing up its iron bars with an improvised explosive device.
The source further said that 12 inmates returned of their own will but the Nigeria Prisons Service Public Relations Officer, Ope Fatinikun, said they were captured.
Fatinikun added, ‘‘Unknown gunmen invaded Koton- Karfe prison between 9.30am and 10pm and immediately it happened, the acting Comptroller-General of Prisons, Aminu Suley, informed the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, and the Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, and they ordered policemen and soldiers to beef up security around the prison and to arrest the fleeing inmates.”
The gunmen were said to have also broken some of the prison’s walls before vandalising its record office.
Our source who pleaded anonymity said sounds of gunshots caused panic close to the prison which is located on the Lokoja-Abuja Road.
According to him, the gunmen operated unchallenged for hours before security operatives arrived in the prison after they had left.
The comptroller-General of the NPS told journalists when he visited the Prison in company with Governor Idris Wada on Monday that the gunmen forcibly freed the inmates.
He said that 26 of the inmates were convicts while 119 were awaiting trial for different offenses.
He lamented the congestion of the prison and pleaded with Wada to prevail on the judiciary to quicken the trial of those on awaiting list.
Wada said he would invoke his power of prerogative of mercy to set free some of the inmates and urged the chief judge of the state to free some of the inmates.
The governor said security operatives were prompt in their response when they were alerted, adding that it was regrettable that much damage had been done before their arrival.
He also decried the deterioration of the prison, saying it was not good for human habitation.
The governor promised to provide beddings for the inmates who had been forced to live in sub-human conditions.
Wada urged the Federal Government to expedite action on the new Koto-karfi prison. He added that when the prison was completed, the old building which was established in 1934 would become a tourism centre.
In February 2012, the Koton-Karfe prison was attacked by Boko Haram members who freed 119 inmates.
Leave a Reply