On Tuesday evening, terrorists attacked Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. The attack was successfully executed through the use of explosives that altered the security of the facility.
According to the Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Bashir Magashi, about 600 inmates broke out of the Medium Security Custodial Centre. He told journalists that the attack was carried out by suspected members of the Boko Haram terrorist sect.
“They came in with high explosives they attempted the initial entry with a very high explosive, but they were unsuccessful.
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“Then they attacked another section of the wall with even higher grade explosive which brought the wall down. The forces on ground did everything they could to repel them but the numbers they came with was overwhelming which they were not able to fight against. But they kept on fighting gallantly, unfortunately the breach happened.
“The incident took about 30 minutes, then reinforcements arrived. The inmates here are about 994. And when they broke out, because this people came specifically, we understand they are Boko Haram, they came specifically for their co-conspirators, in order to get them, some of them are now in the general population. So they broke out and other people in that general population also escaped.
“But many of them have returned, they have reported themselves to the police, some we have successfully retrieved from the bushes were they were hiding. And right now we have retrieved about 300, out of about 600 that escaped their cells,” he said.
The Minister said the attack, which so far has resulted in the death of at least one person and several injuries, was carried out to rescue terrorists being held in the facility.
Prison break is gradually becoming a norm in Nigeria. In the past two years, the nation has recorded alarming incidents of security breach in correctional centers, resulting in the escape of hardened criminals. During an attack on the Owerri prison in Imo State on April 4, 2021, gunmen had freed 1,844 prisoners after using explosives to gain entry into the facility.
There was also an attack on Benin Maximum Correctional Center, Edo State in October 2020, with most of the inmates fleeing.
However, the attack by terrorists on Kuje Correctional Facility has sent an alarming message to Nigerians. Magashi said that all members of the Boko Haram terrorist sect have escaped. But besides the danger their escape poses to the rest of the country, breaching the security apparatus of the nation’s capital in an attack that eyewitnesses claimed lasted for hours, sends a clear message that nowhere is safe anymore in Nigeria.
On Tuesday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed this in a statement that President Muhammadu Buhari’s convoy was attacked in his home state, Katsina.