Minna jail break: 2 die as 180 inmates escape

By Hammed Salawu,Minna

No fewer than two people were killed and 180 escaped inonna medium securoty jail breal on Sunday night.

Niger state governor Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello and the Minister of Interior Lt General Abdulrahaman Danbazau (rtd), have expressed concern over the security of Nigerian prisons.

Their remarks came as not less than 180 inmates were confirmed to have escaped from the Minna medium security prisons in Niger state on Sunday night.

The duo made the remarks when they jointly paid an on the spot inspection on the Minna prison following an attack on the facility on Sunday night.

The attack by unknown gunmen left two people one of them Ahmed Shekarau an official of the Nigerian Prisons and the son of the Chief Imam of Wushshi central mosque and an Okada rider dead.

Governor Bello and Lt Gen Danbazau attributed the security situation in the prisons across the country on congestions and wanted steps to be taken to reduce the population in each of the prisons.

Speaking specifically on Sundays incident in the Minna prison Lt. General Danbazau said “we have seen serious gaps, there is the need for us to cover the gaps certainly there are gaps”.

He also said that it had been discovered that the Prison service was facing serious manpower shortage saying it was as a result that the government had reached an advanced stage of recruiting about 6000 additional personnel.

Danbazau further said that government would reconstruct all the old prisons in the country because some of them were 100 years old pointing out that some of the prisons that had ” been caught up with urbanisation are to be relocated”.

The minister also disclosed that government would build 3000 capacity prisons each across the country. He did not disclose the exact locations and the cost of the project.

Niger state governor Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello who also attributed the attack on the prison on security lapse said ” what we have learnt is that we have to look at our infrastructure and operations”.

Governor Sani Bello appealed to the people “to take their jobs seriously to avoid future occurrence”.

The governor said he had not signed any death warrant for condemned criminals because “nothing has been brought to me”.

” I have not done anything about condemned criminals I have not seen anything when I see something on condemned criminals I will do something about it”.

The Nigeria Prisons authority has already instituted a committee to investigate the remote and immediate circumstances surrounding the attack on the prison.

It was learnt that the attack could have been masterminded by two condemned criminals whose death sentences were supposed to have been signed by the state governor on Monday.

The two criminals were sentenced to death by hanging by a Minna High Court and were among those that escaped from the prison.