ABUJA – Gunmen raided a prison near Nigeria’s capital yesterday, though correctional service authorities said they had repelled the attackers and brought the situation under control.
Residents in the area reported hearing loud explosions yesterday near the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre, on the outskirts of Abuja.
No details were immediately available about whether any inmates had escaped, but security forces had cordoned off roads leading to the prison this morning, residents said.
“The armed squad of the Nigerian Correctional Service and other security agencies attached to the Custodial centre have responded and calm has been restored to the facility and the situation is under control,” a prison service spokesman said in a statement.
It was unclear who carried out the attack but Nigeria’s security forces are fighting jihadists, heavily armed criminal gangs and also separatist militias in different parts of the country.
Attacks on prisons in Nigeria have happened in the past, with gunmen seeking to free inmates.
More than 1,800 prisoners escaped last year after heavily armed men attacked a prison in southwest Nigeria using explosives.
The attackers blasted their way into the Owerri prison in Imo state, engaging guards in a gun battle before storming the prison.
Imo state is part of a region that is a hotbed for separatist groups seeking an independent state for the indigenous Igbo population. – AFP, July 6, 2022
