ABUJA — The federal government has assured Nigerians that there will ‘never’ be a prison break in Nigeria again.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, stated this at a world press conference held at the Radio House Abuja on Monday.
No fewer than 14 prison breaks have occurred since President Muhammadu Buhari came into power in 2015, with over 6,000 inmates escaping from various correctional centers across the country, according to a tally by The Africa Report.
The first major jailbreak during Buhari’s administration occurred at the Koton Karfe Correctional Center, Kogi State, on 19 June 2016, with about 13 inmates escaping from the facility.
In August of the same year, 15 inmates fled the Nsukka Correctional Center, Enugu following an attack on the facility by gunmen.
On 4 June 2018, gunmen also attacked the Medium Security Correctional Center in Tunga area of Minna, the Niger State capital, freeing over 200 inmates.
Similar attacks on the Oko and Benin correctional centers were carried out by terrorists, freeing about 2,000 inmates on 19 October 2020.
Three days after, the Okitipupa correctional center in Ondo was attacked and 58 inmates regained freedom.
In April 2021, the Owerri Correctional Center, Imo State, was attacked and about 1,844 inmates were set free.
This was followed by the attacks on the Kabba Correctional Center in Kogi, in September 2021, where about 250 were set free.
The attacks at the Abolongo Correctional Center in Oyo State in October same year also led to the escape of 837 inmates.
During his address at the conference, the minister assured that “never again would jailbreaks be repeated” in Nigeria and warned criminal elements to keep off the prisons across the country or they would not live to tell the story of any dastard acts.
“Although a few of the custodial centers of recent have suffered a spate of unprovoked but cowardly attacks, thankfully, that is clearly behind us now,” Aregbesola said.
“We have been able to strengthen the custodial facilities with very tough measures.
“They are now strong, well-fortified, and impregnable. If anyone or a group dares to test our will now, they may not live to regret it.”
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