Boko Haram claims Kogi prison attack

Armed men have broken into a jail in Nigeria using bombs and heavy gunfire, freeing 119 inmates, officials say.

A prison service spokeswoman told the BBC the armed men killed a jail officer during the attack, in the central Kogi state, on Wednesday evening.

Most of the prisoners were awaiting trial and none were high-profile detainees, according to officials.

Islamist militant group Boko Haram later said it carried out the attack, freeing seven of its members.

The group has carried out similar jailbreaks before, including a massive 2010 attack on a prison further north in Bauchi state.

In that incident Boko Haram freed about 700 prisoners, many of whom were members of the group.

'No lifers'

A police officer, who requested anonymity, told Nigeria's Daily Trust newspaper that about 20 gunmen on motorbikes stormed the jail in Koton-Karifi, about 160km (100 miles) south of the capital Abuja.

He said the attack, launched at about 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT) on Wednesday, lasted for about 30 minutes.

An eyewitness told the paper: "After bombing the gate, they immediately moved into the prison shooting sporadically in order to chase other prison officers away."

Hadijha Aminu, from the Nigerian Prisons Service, told the BBC that the attackers had freed all but one of the inmates from the federal prison.

"There were no high-profile prisoners - no lifers," she said.

A warden was killed when attackers forced open the gates of the jail and then freed 119 inmates.

Police later said they had recaptured 25 of the detainees.

On Thursday evening, Boko Haram said it had staged the attack. A spokesman for the group said they had freed seven of their members and taken them to camps.

The authorities appear to be struggling to contain Boko Haram's attacks on state institutions, despite the recent arrest of a senior member of the group and a crackdown against members in a northern stronghold, the BBC's Mark Lobel in Lagos reports.

Last month, Boko Haram freed some of its captured members during a series of bombings on police stations in the northern city Kano.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", wants to establish Islamic law in Nigeria.

Source:BBC

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25 fleeing inmates of koton-karfe cell re-arrested

The Kogi State Command of the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) has re-arrested 25 of the 119 inmates who escaped from the Koton-karfe prisons on Wednesday.

Mrs Hadiza Aminu, the spokesperson of the service, on Thursday in Lokoja said that the re-arrested inmates were picked up in different locations in Koton-karfe and other villages on the Lokoja-Abuja highway between Wednesday night and Thursday.

She said the service had launched a manhunt for the remaining inmates, warning them to voluntarily turn in themselves to the service immediately.

Aminu, a Deputy Superintendent of Prisons, said that all the 119 inmates who escaped during the attack on the prison by unknown gunmen, were all awaiting trial, explaining that all the convicted inmates of the cell were intact.

She said that a conventional warder, Mr Richard Sesan, was the only official killed during the attack.

The gun attack was believed to have been masterminded by colleagues of some robbery suspects who invaded the prison at about 7: 15pm on Wednesday.

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Gunmen Invade Kogi Prison, Free Inmates

Unknown gunmen last night, invaded Koton/Karfe Federal Prison in Kogi State,setting all the inmates free.

LEADERSHIP reliably gathered that one of the officers of the Nigeria Prisons Service was shot dead by the assailants.

The gunmen who stormed the ancient town, along Abuja highway around 7pm,were said to have fired sporadic shots into the air, before carrying out their mission.

Our correspondent further gathered that the gunmen,who came with two Volkswagen vehicles, were armed with sophisticated weapons.

In a jiffy,they entered the prison,and subsequently took away some inmates, before driving away, leaving the residents of the town in fear and confusion.

Some officials who were rattled by the sudden attack and some residents scampered for safety,even as some inmates were said to have sustained injuries.

LEADERSHIP also gathered that the prison is currently empty, as all the inmates have scattered in different directions.

As at the time of filing this report, could not be ascertained, as they all disappeared after carrying our their mission.

When contacted, the spokesman of the state police command,Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with our correspondent.

He, however, said details of the ugly incident were still being expected, even as some residents of the town insisted that the dreaded Boko Haram members might be responsible for the attack.

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