600 inmates escape after suspected terrorists attack Kuje prison – FG

The Federal Government has confirmed that about 600 inmates escaped from the Kuje Correctional Centre following Tuesday evening’s attack by suspected terrorists.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Mr Shuaibu Belgore, during a visit to the facility, explained that over 300 of the inmates have been retrieved and more are on the way.

He added that the facility houses 994 inmates and the attackers, which he suspects are Boko Haram terrorists, attacked the facility to rescue their co-conspirators.

Belgore said one person died and three others were injured during the attack.

There was pandemonium among residents of the Kuje prison area in Abuja on Tuesday evening after explosions and gunshots were heard from the direction of the correctional centre.

A spokesperson for the Nigerian Correctional Service, AD Umar, confirmed that gunmen had attacked the correctional centre but that normalcy had been restored after security agencies intervened.