About 145 inmates in the 80-year-old Koton-Karfe prison at about 10pm on
Sunday escaped from the prison when the gunmen gained entry into the prison by blowing up
its iron bars with an improvised explosive device.
A male prison officer and an inmate were injured while another
inmate was found dead after the attackers left.
Twelve of those who fled were said to have returned to the prison under
controversial circumstances.
A prison said on Monday that the 12
returned of their own volition but the Nigeria Prisons Service Public Relations
Officer, Ope Fatinikun, said they were captured.
Fatinikun added, ‘‘Unknown gunmen invaded Koton- Karfe prison between
9.30am and 10pm and immediately it happened, the acting Comptroller-General of
Prisons, Aminu Suley, informed the Inspector-General of Police,
Suleiman Abba, and the Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, and they ordered
policemen and soldiers to beef up security around the prison and to arrest the
fleeing inmates.”
The gunmen were said to have also broken some of the prison’s
walls before vandalising its record office.
A source who pleaded anonymity said sounds of gunshots
caused panic close to the prison which is located on
the Lokoja-Abuja Road.
According to him, the gunmen operated unchallenged for hours
before security operatives arrived in the prison after they had left.
The comptroller-General of the NPS told
journalists when he visited the Prison in company with
Governor Idris Wada on Monday that the gunmen forcibly freed the
inmates.
He said that 26 of the inmates were convicts while 119
were awaiting trial for different offences.
He lamented the congestion of the prison and pleaded with Wada to
prevail on the judiciary to quicken the trial of those on awaiting list.
Wada said he would invoke his power of prerogative of mercy to set free
some of the inmates .
He said that he would also urge the chief judge of the state
to free some of the inmates.
The governor said security operatives were prompt in their response when
they were alerted, adding that it was regrettable that much damage had been
done before their arrival.
He also decried the deterioration of the prison, saying it was not good
for human habitation.
The governor promised to provide beddings for the inmates who had been
forced to live in sub-human conditions.
Wada urged the Federal Government to expedite action on the new
Koto-karfi prison. He added that when the prison was completed, the
old building which was established in 1934 would become a tourism centre.
The Koton-Karfe prison was attacked in February 2012
by Boko Haram members who freed 119 inmates.