106 inmates declared wanted after Suleja jailbreak
The Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) has announced that about 106 inmates are currently on the run after they fled a custodial facility in Suleja, Niger State, on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the Service, Abubakar Umar, an Assistant Controller, confirmed that three more inmates have been rearrested apart from 10 earlier recaptured.
He also denied a report that said there were over 8,000 thousand fleeing inmates across the country.
Recall that about 119 inmates fled the Suleja custodial facility following hours of heavy downpours that destroyed parts of the facility on Wednesday night.
Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior, stated during a visit to the facility that the correctional center needed to be relocated from the metropolitan center.
According to him, the correctional facility, which was designed to house 250 convicts, had 499 before the incident.
This is not the first time that Nigeria will experience a jailbreak.
In 2022, more than 400 prisoners fled following a raid on a prison by terrorists in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.
Four inmates, a security guard and several attackers were killed after the prison was targeted.
Reports say over 5,000 inmates have escaped during prison breaks in
Nigeria since 2020.
