Residents of Shetiku and others close to Kuje Prisons were Monday thrown into pandemonium following an attempted jailbreak in the facility.
The incident which began around 10am saw soldiers, prison personnel and other security operatives shooting sporadically into the air to ward off external attacks while they were said to have tear-gased the prison cells.
There was a jailbreak at Kuje prisons, recently, in which 6 inmates escaped. There have been jail breaks ion Enugu, Ebonyi and Kogi a few weeks ago.
A reliable source told our correspondent that ”There is a lock down in the prison, prisons officials are throwing tear-gas at the inmates to cow them because of the last jail break.”
Some of the inmates complained that they were dying, as they spoke to newsmen “We do not know what they want to do with us, some people are on the ground now rolling and crying.” “There is no jail break, yet they woke up this morning to start shooting tear gas at us,” they added.
Reporters who went to the scene at about 1:00 pm observed that security was beefed up and the gate was empty of visitors. Spokesperson of the Nigerian Prisons Service, Francis Enobore did not immediately respond to media enquirers but he later told journalists that the situation had been brought under control.
“We have received a report of a problem in Kuje Prison but give me a little time to get the facts on it as some of our men are already on ground to handle the situation. “We are monitoring what is happening. I will revert to you as soon we get more detail from our men on the ground”, he said.
The Comptroller of Prisons, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, Mr. Daniel Odaro, who later spoke with newsmen explained that measures that were taken were to forestall any ugly incident, especially given the fact that there was a recent jail break in the same prison.
His words, “Nobody was shot at. Nobody was hurt. What happened was that there was a threat from one of the cells in the robbery section of the prison where one or two inmates resisting search by prison officers who were conducting search on the inmates.
“It was not the whole prison that was involved. It was just a section. Searching is a normal routing in all prisons, worldwide. “We have had to take measures to forestall any form of ugly incident, especially as you would remember that there was a recent incident in the same prison.
“I can assure you that there is normalcy in the prison, as we speak. In fact the inmates who were involved have apologized for their unruly behavior. We have also told the inmates that they should relax. Searching is a daily routine. “Inmates who were due for courts had been conveyed to courts before the incident. “ Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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