879 Inmates Fled Kuje Correctional Facility – NCoS

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has said embattled police officer, DCP Abba Kyari and other VIPs held in the facility did not escape during Tuesday’s attack on its facility in Kuje, Abuja.

In a statement on Wednesday by the Chief Superintendent of Corrections, Umar Abubakar, said Kyari and others were unhurt in the assault.

“This is also to confirms to the general public that DCP Abba Kyari and other VIPs held in the facility did not escape. They are presently in custody, hale and hearty,” the statement partly read.

Speaking further on the incident, Mr Abubakar revealed that 879 inmates escaped the Kuje Prison on Tuesday night following the attack by suspected Boko Haram Terrorists.

According to him, “443 of the escapees have been recaptured while 551 inmates are currently in custody, and 443 inmates are still at large,” however, these figures are do not seem to add up, especially in the light that the facility is said to have held only 994 inmates prior to the attack.

Reeling out more information regarding the incident, the Corrections Officer disclosed that four inmates died in the chaos while 16 others sustained various degree of injuries and are being treated at the moment.

He, however, emphasized that efforts are ongoing to recapture all fleeing inmates.

The NCoS spokesman while explaining that the attackers broke into the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kuje using explosive devices through the main entrance and the fence of the facility respectively, said the the gunmen killed a personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) attached to the Custodial Centre and left three (3) other personnel of the Nigerian Correctional Service seriously injured.

He assured Nigerians that the Service will deploy its Corrections Information Management System (CIMS) in synergy with National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to track all fleeing inmates and return them to custody.