The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has demanded the sack of the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, for failing to stop attacks on prisons in the country.
The group was reacting to Tuesday night’s attack on the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja by terrorists.
In a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA also demanded the sack of the Minister of Defence Bashir Magashi, for incompetence.
The group said it is distasteful and condemnable that over 15 jailbreaks have occurred under Aregbesola’s watch in the last five years.
It also challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop asking rhetorical questions on how the country’s intelligence system failed to detect the attack on the correctional facility.
The statement read: “The spate of jailbreaks under President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, is alarming and condemnable. Even under then President Goodluck Jonathan who had no military experience or background, jailbreaks weren’t as rampant as what Nigerians see these days.
“The frequent and recurring jailbreaks show the inefficiency of all those President Buhari appointed into office and his unwillingness to sack them show also that the President tacitly wants the situation to continue to fester.
“HURIWA demands the arrest of the persons who gave the order purportedly for the withdrawal of soldiers before the attack.”
“We demand the sack of the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, and his Defence counterpart, Bashir Magashi, for perpetual incompetence. We also call for a broad-based judicial panel of inquiry on prison breaks in Nigeria to be constituted.”