Nigeria: Armed men storm the prison to detonate more than 200 prisoners

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A spokesman for the Nigeria Correctional Service said in a statement that the Kabba district correctional facility in Kogi was attacked by unidentified gunmen, who attacked the site and “immediately involved the armed guards in a tough battle with guns “.

“The incident took place around 11:45 pm on September 12, 2021,” said Francis Enobore, a spokesman for the Correctional Service.

Enobore said no fewer than 294 prisoners were detained at the time of the attack, and stated that “224 are pre-trial detainees and 70 are convicted prisoners.”

He added that a “recovery procedure” had been activated to find the fleeing inmates.

A regional police chief told CNN that a police officer died during the raid.

Nigerian President Buhari describes the rupture of the prison that released nearly 2,000 inmates as a

“Many gunmen attacked from all angles and did not give the correctional service any chance to respond,” said Ede Ayuba Ekpeji, deputy general inspector of police in the region.

“One police inspector died, another inspector was injured and taken to hospital,” he added. “Three of the escaped prisoners have been re-arrested.”

The attackers did not target any specific category of prisoners at large, Ekpeji said.

Prison in Kogi comes five months after nearly 2,000 prisoners were released from prison in the southeastern Nigerian state of Imo after gunmen stormed the detention center and used explosives to detonate. parts of the prison, authorities reported at the time.
The Nigerian Police blamed secessionist groups in the southeast region by the attack that occurred in April.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari had described the break with Imo prison as “an act of terrorism, “but has not yet commented on the latest raid on Kogi prison.

Nigeria is facing one of the worst security crises in recent years as insurgency, separatist conflicts, banditry and kidnappings to the rescue continue to escalate.

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