108 inmates on the run as rainstorm wreaks Suleja prisons

Security presence has been beefed up in and around Suleja town in Niger State as the manhunt for the 119 inmates of the Federal Correctional Centre in the town, who escaped following a downpour that washed away a section of its fence, gets underway.

Daily Trust reports that the rainfall, which was accompanied by a heavy windstorm, happened on Wednesday night.

Sources told our correspondent that only 10 escaped inmates were recaptured as of 12 midnight. Another source said another five were also recaptured later.

Daily Trust reports that the facility, which holds more than 400 inmates, is currently undergoing rehabilitation and upgrading.

The Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) has confirmed the escape of inmates from the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Suleja, Niger State.

In a statement, on Thursday morning, a spokesman of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) command of NCoS, Adamu Duza, said a total of 118 inmates escaped.

 “A downpour that lasted for several hours on the night of Wednesday, 24 April 2024, has wreaked havoc on the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Suleja, Niger State, as well as surrounding buildings, destroying part of the custodial facility, including its perimeter fence, giving way to the escape of a total of 118 inmates of the facility.

 “The service has immediately activated its recapturing mechanisms, and in conjunction with sister security agencies, has so far recaptured 10 fleeing inmates and taken them into custody, while we are in hot pursuit to recapture the rest.

 “The service is not unmindful of the fact that many of its facilities were built during the colonial era and that they are old and weak. The service is making frantic efforts to ensure that all ageing facilities give way to modern ones.

 “The Controller of Corrections, FCT Command, Francis John, wishes to assure the public that the service is on top of the situation and that they should go about their normal businesses without fear or hindrance,” the statement read.

A resident of Unguwar Barde, Suleja, where the facility is located, Aliyu Sulaiman, said residents were attracted by a loud sound when the fence collapsed.

“That I think was what encouraged some of the inmates living in the rooms downstairs to bolt out from their rooms and escape through the collapsed structure.”

He said the inmates’ escape was made easier by the absence of the armed squad personnel of the centre who usually provided security to prevent any jail break.

 “The armed squad of the centre used to take position around the backyard. Unfortunately, they were forced to leave the scene because of the rainstorm. As you can see, there is provision made for them to take shelter under such circumstances,” Sulaiman said.

He said some residents who noticed the development tried in vain to stop the fleeing inmates. Many residents rushed to the scene to alert the warders on duty at the other sections who were not aware of the incident.

 “The warders rushed toward the direction and fired shots into the air in an effort to control the situation.’’

He said some of the residents who tried to assist the warders to recapture the escaping inmates were pelted with stones and forced to withdraw.

Another resident, Abdullahi Nura, said two of the fleeing inmates were captured by the residents from a nearby stream, and handed over to the officials.

 Interior minister visits

In the meantime, the minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has expressed concern over the state of the Suleja Correctional Centre which, according to him, is housing about 499 inmates against its 250 capacity.

Ojo, who arrived at the facility around 12 noon in the company of the C.G Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), to assess the facility and also get first-hand information about the incident, told the officials that he was not happy with the quality of the renovation work being undertaken at the facility.

In an interview with journalists, the minister said only 10 inmates were recaptured at the time, out of over 119 who escaped.

He said the ministry would investigate the cause of the incident and assured Nigerians that such thing would never happen again.

He said the structure housing the inmates is “old’’ and effort must be made to restore sanity and ensure that such a thing doesn’t happen in any facility.”

He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was worried about the development in our cities that is bringing correctional facilities so close to residential locations, adding that a lot of them need to be relocated away from city centres.

He said he was not at the centre to take excuses and emphasised the need for all officials to ensure they did their jobs diligently.

He said he has spoken to the sister security agencies to synergies and collaborate about how all the escaped inmates would be recaptured.       

Daily Trust recalls two years ago, suspected terrorists overran Kuje Prison in Abuja freeing their colleagues under custody.

No fewer than eight prison breaks were recorded in the country  between 2021-2022 with more than 4000 escapee inmates still at large.

Five prison breaks occurred in 2021 while three occurred in 2022 across the nation.