Gunmen free 144 inmates in Kogi prison
attack
2014-11-03 17:17
Lokoja - The Koton Karfe prison in Kogi has
again been attacked by unknown gunmen,
who also set free 144 inmates.
The state Controller of prison, Adams Omale,
told newsmen on Monday that the prison
came under attack of armed "external
forces’’ between 9.30 p.m. and 10 p.m. on
Sunday.
He said that 145 inmates were in the prison
as at the time of attack, saying that 119 of
the inmates were awaiting trial while 26 were
convicts.
Omale said that one of the inmates was shot
dead during the confusion that followed the
invasion.
The controller, however, said that 12 of the
inmates were either re-arrested or returned
on their own.
He said that police and army personnel were
quickly mobilised to counter the invaders,
but the damage had been done before their
arrival.
However, residents of the sleepy town, which
is just a 25-minute drive to Lokoja, the state
capital, claimed that the attackers held sway
for more than two hours.
50-bed prison facility built in 1934 was
similarly attacked in February 2012 by
unknown gunmen.
The report said that 136 inmates were set
free while 27 were re-arrested during the
2012 attack.
Among those freed from the prison on
Sunday night were armed robbery and
murder convicts.
The four cells in the prison had their iron
bars removed while the record office was
thoroughly ransacked.
It was also observed that the ceiling of the
building was shattered and the clinic turned
upside down.
Also read: 75 inmates released in Lagos
Governor Idris Wada in company of his
deputy, Yomi Awoniyi, and the Comptroller-
General of the Nigeria Prisons Service, Aminu
Suley, later visited the prison to assess the
extent of damage.
Suley appealed to Wada and those in position
of power to prevail on the judiciary to step
up their performance to de-congest prisons.
He said many of the fleeing inmates had no
reason to be in cell, saying that they will be
declared wanted anytime from now.
The comptroller-general expressed optimism
that some of the inmates would return on
their own.
On his part, Wada expressed shock over the
condition of the prison which he described
as the first in Northern Nigeria.
He promised to provide mattresses and beds,
saying that it was unbelievable that inmates
still sleep on bare floor in the prison.


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