By Hillary Asemota
Following the invasion of Abolongo Correctional Centre, in Oyo, Oyo State, by armed men, which led to the escape of inmates, the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has said 446 of the escapees have been arrested while 392 are still at large.
Meanwhile, the Minister has vowed to pursue and recapture all inmates who escaped from the Correctional Centre on Friday night when the facility came under attack of gunmen.
He gave the assurance during an inspection visit to the facility on Sunday morning, in Oyo, Oyo State.
“I’m assuring Nigerians that the federal government will pursue not just those who attacked our facility, but those who have escaped lawful custody.
“The attack was unconscionable. I commend officers of the Nigeria Correctional Service and other members of sister security agencies who provided perimeter security for our facility for fighting gallantly and holding the fort before the attackers were able to gain access to the awaiting trial section of the facility.
Giving more details about those who escaped, Aregbesola noted that, 446 out of 907 escapees have been recaptured, whilst 69 never left the facility.
Mr. Sola Fasure, Media Adviser to the Minister in a statement quoted the Minister as
Assuring Nigerians that the service has an updated database of the escapees which includes their biometrics.
We are sharing the database with all security agencies in the country, including the Interpol, so those who escaped our recapture efforts can be nabbed, he added.
“To those on the run, be assured you have nowhere to hide. You can run, but you can’t hide. We’ll fish you out! We are publishing details of those who escaped in the mass media so the public can assist in that effort,” the Minister said.
On the effort to rebuild the damaged part of the facility, the Minister noted that he has directed the NCoS, to immediately begin remediation work.
“I have instructed the CG of NCoS to immediately begin the reconstruction of the damaged parts of the building. We hope to make the facility better secured and more habitable for the inmates.
Also speaking during the inspection, the Controller General of the Nigeria Correctional Service, NCoS, Mr. Haliru Nababa, noted that so far, the service has successfully prevented internal jailbreaks in all her facilities.
Before leaving Oyo, the Minister paid a courtesy visit to the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, and commiserated with him over the attack of the FG facility in his town.
“We are here to commiserate with your majesty over the attack in your town less than 72hours ago. Oyo is known as a peaceful town and with the measures we are putting in place, you can be assured nothing of such will take place again,” Ogbeni Aregbesola assured the monarch.
Recall that at about 10.00 pm on Friday a large number of heavily-armed gunmen attacked the Abolongo Custodial Centre.
Armed squad unit members of the Nigerian Correctional Service and other security agencies on guard at the facility engaged the attackers in a gun duel that lasted for 20 minutes before they were overpowered.
The attackers subsequently used grenades and other explosives to gain access into the awaiting trial section of the facility and set free many of the awaiting trial inmates. Other sections of the facilities were left untouched.
