ABUJA, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) — Nigerian authorities on Tuesday confirmed that 114 inmates have been recaptured after a jailbreak in the country’s central state of Kogi on Sunday.
In a statement, Francis Enobore, the spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), said those recaptured were among the 240 inmates who were forcefully set free by a group of gunmen who attacked the custodial center in Kabba town of Kogi on Sunday night, after a fierce gun battle with the guards.
Shortly after the incident, the NCoS activated the recapture procedure, leading to the recapturing of the fleeing inmates, Enobore said.
The official said support from other local security agencies including the vigilante groups provided aid in the recapturing of the 114 inmates, vowing that the NCoS authorities will not relent in smoking out other fugitives from hiding.
“It would be of no use for them to keep hiding since their photographs and biometrics have been captured,” he added.
As of the time of the attack on Sunday night, 294 inmates were in custody out of which 224 were pre-trial detainees and 70 convicted inmates, the NCoS said in an earlier statement.
Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola said in a separate statement on Monday the gunmen who attacked the facility used explosives to destroy three sides of the perimeter fence, allowing the inmates to escape.
The latest jailbreak comes about five months after gunmen attacked in early April a custodial center and the police headquarters in the southern state of Imo, freeing more than 1,800 inmates and setting the facilities ablaze.
