A jail break at the Kaduna Central Prison was on Tuesday foiled by policemen and personnel of the Nigerian Prisons Service.



However, Prison and Police authorities gave different accounts of what led to the incident. There were also conflicting reports on the number of prisoners that died and those injured.



While the police accused a condemned cleric, Mr. Emeka Isiugo (alias Reverend King), of causing the attempted jail break, the NPS blamed it on congestion in the prison.



Also, eyewitnesses told our correspondent that 15 prisoners were feared killed, the Police and Prison authorities put the casualty at only two.



Our correspondent saw bodies of three of the killed inmates being taken away from the Prison in an ambulance marked NPS 108 KD to an unknown place for burial.



One of the witnesses added that 70 inmates and scores of prison officials were also injured while the administration block, particularly the records office, workshop and other offices within the prison yard were completely razed.



It was gathered that the attempted jail break was hatched and executed by the inmates in the awaiting trial cell who were protesting the alleged preferential treatment accorded King by the prison authorities.



King had been kept in the condemned cell of the Kaduna Prison since a death sentence was passed on him in January 2007 by a Lagos High Court.



The awaiting trial cell inmates were said to have launched an attack when the warders went to the condemned cell to get the prisoners to perform their routine cleaning of the prison yard on Tuesday morning.



Another source, however, claimed that the inmates went on rampage around 6am when they heard rumours that King, who had always championed their well-being had been secretly executed by the prison authorities.



A prison source who pleaded anonymity said that prior to the riot, the inmates had become apprehensive and agitated following the “disappearance of King from the condemned cell of the prison.”



He said, “They suspected that he (King) had been killed since he is a condemned criminal. His sudden disappearance was a source of concern to them. But unknown to them, King had been transferred to the Katsina Prisons. So, when the warders reported for duty this (Tuesday) morning, the inmates swooped on them, forcing themselves out.



“They burnt vital documents at the administrative block of the prisons and destroyed so many other important property. They overpowered the prisons armed guards and officials before a reinforcement came from other security agencies and stopped the riot.”



A warder also explained that the inmates attacked the prison officials while attempting to escape from the prison.



He said, “Few minutes to 6am, we heard noise from within the yard and to our surprise, we saw the inmates in numbers moving towards the workshop and bringing out dangerous weapons which they attacked us with. They came from the G-Line of the prisons which is used for housing robbery suspects.



“The armed guards among us opened fire but were overpowered; they quickly ran outside, while some of us were told by the inmates to change into convicts uniform which we did.



“They set the administrative building, record office and the workshop on fire. Some made for the walls and attempted to escape but were stopped by the guards who were firing from outside.”



The chaos threw the neighbouring Marafa Estate into pandemonium as a reinforcement of heavily armed riot policemen and soldiers attached to the Kaduna State anti-crime outfit (Operation Yaki) moved in to the prison to quell the uprising.



When our correspondent visited the scene of the incident, expended bullet shells and tear gas canisters littered Independence Road, the location of the prison.



Some relations of the inmates who later besieged the scene were barred from entering the prison by armed security men.



The NPS Comptroller-General, Mr. Olusola Ogundipe, who later visited the Prison, confirmed that trouble started when inmates in the “awaiting trial cell’ reacted to a rumour that King had been executed.



Ogundipe denied that the controversial cleric had been executed, saying he was only moved to a safe location.



He said, “At about 2am on Tuesday, awaiting inmates attempted to break out from the Kaduna Prison. Out of the 797 inmates, 539 are awaiting trial, and 139 are condemned.



“Two buildings were burnt down (the administrative block and the workshop); two inmates were killed; 29 injured; and two prison staff injured. No prisoner escaped.



“The crisis started from the awaiting trial cell, and Rev King is one of the condemned prisoners but I will not officially confirm Rev. King’s transfer, but I can tell you that he is in a safe place. He has appealed his case.



“The two that were killed were armed robbery suspects and, during the crisis the condemned prisoners’ cell was broken into but they refused to partake in the crisis.



“The situation has been brought under control and everywhere is calm now. All inmates have been taken back to their cells, and investigation continues.”



Earlier, the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Tambari Mohammed, said King was the cause of the attempted jail break.



Mohammed said, “The prison officials said one Rev. King was the cause of this problem. He has served in Kaduna prison, he has served in Lagos prison and wherever he goes, he has become a problem.



“So they said about three days ago, they had cause to transfer him to Katsina Prison, because he was causing a lot of havoc in Kaduna prison like he did in all the prisons he had stayed; and three days after he left Kaduna prison trouble started.



“I am told that two inmates were killed, but I don’t know their names.”