Heads may roll over Minna jailbreak

Comp t r o l l e r – General of Ni­geria Prisons Service, Dr. Pe­ter Ekpendu has pledged not to spare any member of the service found to be involved in the escape of 275 inmates from Minna Prisons in Niger State on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the prisons boss has disclosed that no fewer than 211 inmates of the medium prisons in Min­na, Niger State that escaped during the attack on the fa­cility were still at large as at Sunday morning.
The prisons boss, who revealed this to journalists in Minna yesterday during an on-the-spot- assessment visit to the prison said a to­tal of 275 inmates escaped from the facility during the attack, while 48 refused to make way.

“We have gone round the prison yard to assess the situation on the ground with regard to the incident of yesterday (Saturday).

“As at now, I wish to let you know that 54 out of those that escaped have been recaptured. 48 in­mates refused to leave the prison bringing the total number of inmates in this prison as at this moment to 102,” he said.

He disclosed that a search party had since been sent out to different parts of the state and its environs while investigation was on­going into the incident. No life was lost in the attack, he added.

The comptroller-general was worried that the inci­dent took place less than 24 hours after the handing and taking over between him and his predecessor, de­scribing it as “very unfor­tunate, embarrassing and completely unacceptable.

“My administration will not spare any officer found culpable in this particular matter.
Any officer found cul­pable must face the full wrath of the law,” Ekpendu assured.

Ekpendu said he had or­dered the immediate trans­fer of 55 officers from the state and zonal headquar­ters of the service in Minna to the medium prisons and the old prisons along Sta­dium Road in Minna. The transfers, according to him, were necessary to beef up security at the prisons.

“I must sincerely ap­preciate the efforts of the Brigade Commander, Commissioner of Police, Director of the State Secu­rity Service (SSS) as well as the Comptroller of Im­migration Services.
As soon as I leave here, I am going to hold a meeting with these heads of secu­rity agencies at the Federal Secretariat, Minna.

“I wish to also use this medium to assure President Goodluck Jonathan and our honourable minister of interior that the secu­rity challenges facing us will be tackled headlong,” Ekpendu said.