Only 18 of the 210 inmates involved in Sunday night’s jail break at Minna Prison have been re-arrested. One hundred and eighty-two were still at large as at the time of this report. And this is official.
Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdurrahman Dambazau made the disclosure to journalists during a tour of the jail house on Monday.
Some dare-devil, yet-to-be-identified gunmen had, Sunday night, stormed the prison, located in the Tunga area of the Niger State capital, conquered guards on duty, and freed 210 inmates.
During the attack in which the gunmen fired indiscriminately and exchanged gunfire with warders, one warder and a commercial motorcyclist were shot dead.
“Out of the 210 inmates that escaped from prison custody,” Dambazau told journalists, “28 have been re-arrested while 182 are still at large.
“We have identified some lapses… part of it is that the prison personnel on duty yesterday were inadequate,” he said, after touring the prison; and added that there were plans to boost security in the facility.
He further announced that an investigation was underway to unveil the masterminds of the attack, how it happened, track and recapture the remaining 182, still at large, and bring the culprits to justice. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Indeed, Minna medium security prison is not new to jailbreak. In 2012, gunmen raided the facility and freed over 100 inmates. Boko Haram insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack which they said was executed to free their incarcerated fighters.
It is also recalled that in November 2014, gunmen blasted their way into a prison in Koton Karfe, a town in Kogi state, with explosives, and released 132 inmates.
