The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has confirmed another jailbreak attempt after the incident at the Kuje Correctional Facility in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), adding, however, that the culprits met their waterloo in the process.
Aregbesola, who disclosed this during the weekly ministerial briefing hosted by the Presidential Communication Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, also assured that with the level of security, including those driven by technology set around the nation’s correctional facilities, escaping jail has become more difficult.
Aregbesola, who refused to disclose the facility where the attempted jailbreak occurred, said all inmates in the country have had their biometrics captured, explaining that it has become impossible for any escaping inmate to elude recapture.
More than 400 prisoners went missing after the Kuje correctional centre attack last July. Four inmates, a security guard and several attackers were reportedly killed after the prison was targeted.
The minister further disclosed that there was a a fresh attempt to break into another of the country’s correctional centres after the Kuje incident in July 2022.
While he declined to disclose which of the country’s correctional centre was affected, Aregbesola blamed insecurity for the frequent attempts at jailbreaks.
He said: “It is the season. Don’t say ha! I know you don’t want to hear it. Have we had what we are having in Nigeria today before? It is the season, and it is global.
“Why are we having assassinations in America? Bad as it is, it is horrible but in America, people get killed every second. In California within the last one week in America, 20 people have been killed. Did you ask why? It has nothing to do with technology, it could even be linked to climate change.
“When things are hard, people who cannot manage their own stability resort to those type of things. You can’t say there is no terrorism in Nigeria, we are managing it. You can’t say there is no banditry in Nigeria, we are managing it. It is because of the level of insecurity in Nigeria and we are arising to it. It is as simple as that.”
– Media Report