Over 600 escape from Kuje Prison after terrorist attack

Over 600 inmates absconded the Kuje Prison following a night attack by terrorists on Tuesday.

This was revealed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Dr Shuaib Belgore.

The Permanent Secretary blamed the attack on Boko Haram insurgents who had specifically come for their members held in custody.

He said about 300 had been caught, while 300 are not yet found.

While speaking to newsmen, Belgore revealed that an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, was killed during the attack on the correctional facility.

He said, “There have been several attacks on our facilities most of them are being repelled, but every now and then, there is one that they have succeeded. In this is one they came very determined with high explosives.

“The initial entry attempt was unsuccessful, then they attacked another section of the wall with higher-grade explosives which brought the wall down.

“The forces on the ground did everything they could to repel them but the number they came with was high which they were not able to defend against. They kept on fighting gallantly unfortunately the breach happened. Reinforcement came when they were halfway through it. They were eventually repelled.

“At the time they came in they killed one NSCDC operative while trying to save the situation. The inmates here are 994.

“We understand they are Boko Haram terrorists and came specifically came for their conspirators. Many of them have returned, some were retrieved from the bushes they were hiding, right now we have retrieved about 300 out of about 600 that got out of the jail.”