Gunmen kill four, free prisoners in Yobe

Gunmen bombed a police station in and freed more than a dozen prisoners, leaving three assailants and a policeman killed in an attack on Thursday.

The gunmen stormed the station in Damagun in Yobe state late Wednesday, leaving it burnt and an officer wounded. A house being used as a military post was also burnt, while 14 inmates were freed from a prison at another location in town.

Yobe state police spokesman Gbadegesin Toyin said three of the attackers and a police officer were killed, while two other policemen were shot and injured.

Toyin said the police station, located in northeastern Nigeria, was completely burnt in the attack.

“The gunmen also burnt down a house used as a military post and an adjoining building housing some Korean doctors employed by the Yobe state government,” he said.

A purported spokesman for Boko Haram told reporters in a conference call that the group was responsible for the attack.

The spokesman, who goes by the name Abul Qaqa and who has claimed to speak on behalf of the group a number of times in the past, said they launched the attack to free one of their members who had been arrested in the town.

“We were responsible for last night’s attacks in Damagun in which we burnt down the police station and a military lodge and also broke into the prison and freed inmates,” he said.

“We carried out the attacks in order to free one of our members arrested in the town following a tip-off and detained in police custody. We succeeded in our mission.”

One resident said what appeared to be a large crowd of attackers were shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) as they stormed the building. Another resident said the gunmen engaged the police in a shootout before hurling explosives into the station.

Meanwhile two gunmen shot dead a police inspector in Maiduguri, in neighbouring Borno state.

He was killed while shopping in the city’s Gamboru market, Borno state police spokesman Samuel Tizhe said.

Maiduguri has long been considered Boko Haram’s base and the city has been repeatedly targeted for its attacks.

Police promised rewards for leads on Boko Haram.

“The police have promised 500,000 naira ($3,125, 2,380 euros) for information that leads to the arrest of Boko Haram Islamists and a reward in like sum on information leading to the recovery of arms,” Tizhe said.

A military task force in Borno state has been carrying out door-to-door searches in a bid to crack down on Boko Haram.

The Islamist group has been blamed for scores of attacks, mainly in Nigeria’s north. A bid to hold indirect talks between the government and Boko Haram in recent weeks appears to have broken down.

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Gunmen attack prison, police station in Maiduguri

Suspected Islamists have attacked a prison, police station and local government office wounding at least three police officers, officials and residents said Wednesday.

“The (police) station was set ablaze,” police spokesman Samuel Tizhe told AFP of the attack in Konduga on Tuesday night.

“They attacked the secretariat and prison … They started with firing, then they put explosives.”

Residents said they suspected the attackers were members of Islamist group Boko Haram, though Tizhe declined to comment on who the suspects were. The spokesman said at least three policemen were wounded and no deaths reported.

Konduga is located some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Maiduguri, which has served as the base of Boko Haram, blamed for scores of attacks that have killed hundreds, mainly in the north.

Residents said gunmen stormed Konduga on Tuesday evening, shooting and bombing the police station and local government office. One resident said a church was also attacked, but police have not confirmed the information.

Hundreds of people fled the violence, but calm had returned on Wednesday morning.

“We had just finished our evening prayers when explosions and shootings erupted which set the divisional police station, the local government secretariat and a church on fire,” one fleeing resident told AFP by telephone.

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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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14 suspects escape from police cell in Benin City, Edo

Another controversy is rocking the Edo State Police Command after 14 suspected criminals were said to have escaped from police cell, barely 48 hours after the new Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Umar Manko, resumed duties.

The new CP, who reacted to the escape during a meeting with officers of the rank and file at the Command, yesterday, said two police officers had been detained in connection with the escape.

He added that crack team of detectives was on the trail of the fleeing criminals.

It was learnt that the 14 suspects were transferred from Ogida Police Station in Benin and handed over to the State Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, at the state Police Command.

It was gathered that the incident took place weekend and that two of the fleeing suspects have been arrested at Water-side on Egor Road, during Police routine patrol.

A police source said that the suspects escaped from their cell after using handsaw to cut the cell protectors. Following the incident, there had been tension at the top hierarchy of the state police command, while a man hunt for the fleeing suspects is on.

Manko, who frowned at the incident, vowed to track the suspects. It was further learnt that the command had beefed up security in the border towns.

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How did she escape from prison?

Popular Hausa actress, Rabi Ismail, who was in July this year condemned to death by a court in Kano State for the murder of her boyfriend, has reportedly escaped from a prison in Hadejia, Jigawa State.

She was awaiting hanging before she was discovered missing in her cell.

The Jigawa State Prison Service have issued a search order for her capture.

Question is; how did she escape?

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Enugu Prisons Doctor Forges “Sick” Document To Release Suspect

Several sources knowledgeable about the ongoing investigation into the kidnap and continued disappearance of Lotachukwu (Lota) Ezeudu have disclosed that a doctor with the Enugu Prisons is involved in a scam to release one of the suspects from detention.

The sources revealed that the prison doctor has authored a deceptive medical report claiming that the suspect, Uche Moses Amajor, is suffering from hepatitis and should be allowed to go home and seek medical treatment.

One of our sources, who works at the prison facility in Enugu, told SaharaReporters, “God can never forgive any prison official who takes bribe to help a man as dangerous as Uche Amajor to regain freedom.”

Two of the sources said Uche Amajor’s father, who owns Prosper Hotel in Trans-Ekulu, a suburb of Enugu, was responsible for bribing a few unscrupulous prison officials to facilitate his son’s release from jail.

Lota Ezeudu, a second-year accountancy student at the University of Nigeria, was kidnapped in late September 2009 by a criminal ring sponsored by a Divisional Police Officer, Sam Chukwu. Mr. Chukwu, whose son, Nnaemeka Chukwu, is currently detained in prison awaiting trial, went into hiding after prosecutors declared him a suspect. He has failed to show up at several court dates.

However, a source within the judiciary in Enugu told us that a lawyer for the fugitive DPO has stated that Mr. Chukwu wants to be tried by a different judge. Other sources reported that the DPO had told associates that he had shopped for a judge who has agreed to rule that he should not face prosecution over the kidnap of Mr. Lota Ezeudu.

SaharaReporters has done numerous investigative reports detailing the DPO’s extensive criminal activities during the nearly 17 years he served in the Enugu metropolis. Numerous residents of Enugu accused him of a reign of terror that included sponsorship of kidnapping activities as well as extra-judicial murders.

Several police sources have told SaharaReporters that Uche Amajor played a key role in the kidnap of Lota Ezeudu, who was 19 years old in 2009.

As police investigators sought Uche Amajor’s arrest and even published his picture in newspapers declaring him wanted, his parents, who reside in Kaduna, kept him in hiding for more than two years. “His father, Chief Amajor, kept telling us that he did not know where his son was,” said a police source. Sources within the police and Enugu State Ministry of Justice stated that Mr. Amajor, the proprietor of Prosper Hotel, finally surrendered his son after prosecutors decided to go after him and treat him as an accessory to his son’s crime.

Ever since his son was remanded in prison custody, Mr. Amajor has used his wealth to make several illicit and fraudulent efforts to secure his son’s release. On one occasion, he approached top police officers in Abuja with concocted stories that his son was unfairly targeted and was being tortured in detention.

In a more daring move, he bribed one Mahmud Isah, an area commander of the Nigeria Police in Funtua, Katsina State, to write a deceptive report claiming that Uche Amajor came to the Funtua police station around the date that Lota Ezeudu was kidnapped to report that some of his personal belongings had been stolen. The fraudulent police report, signed by Mr. Isah, stated that Uche Amajor was robbed at gunpoint as he traveled from Sokoto to Funtua on September 25, 2009.

It took the diligent investigation of police investigators at the Enugu Command to prove that Uche Amajor was not in Funtua on the said date, but in Enugu participating in the kidnap of Lota Ezeudu. Several of the suspects have identified Uche Amajor as one of the key actors in Lota’s kidnap.

An official of the Ministry of Justice said he was shocked at the behavior of Mr. Isah. “It’s a shame that an area commander of the police in Funtua would deliberately issue a false, misleading document with the aim of helping a suspect in a serious crime to go scot free,” he said, adding that the Inspector General of Police Hafiz Ringim should look into the matter and impose stern disciplinary action. “The IG should summarily dismiss people like Mahmud Isah from the police force because they continue to worsen the image of the police and also facilitate the reign of crime in our society,” he added.

Our sources said that, once Mr. Amajor’s effort to bribe his way to a false alibi for his son collapsed, Mr. Amajor then focused on other strategies. He handed out huge bribes to a few unscrupulous prison officials, including a medical doctor, who then wrote a report claiming that Moses Amajor is suffering from “infective hepatitis,” and recommending that the suspect be released to enable him to receive treatment outside the prison.

A source within Enugu Prison told SaharaReporters that the prison doctor’s report “is a total fabrication,” adding that it was “a ploy to release a criminal from jail because his papa has money.” Speaking in a tone of anger, the official, who disclosed that he rejected Mr. Amajor’s offer of a bribe, stated: “If you know you have money, why didn’t you warn your son when he was engaging in criminal activities? Why do you want your son to be released from prison when you did not teach him not to kidnap another man’s son?”

Investigations by SaharaReporters unearthed allegations of Uche Amajor’s extensive criminal record. One police source said Uche Amajor specialized in riding up in “okada” motorcycles and snatching money from customers exiting from banks.

Amajor attended Enugu State University (ESUT) where he spent eight years before earning his bachelor’s degree. Several students who knew him at the university told SaharaReporters that he was known to use the university as a base for crimes, including stealing cars. “Uche Amajor was too much as a student because he was always loaded and everybody feared him, including lectures,” said one of our sources, adding, “he went to class only when he wanted.”

One source told SaharaReporters that an independent doctor who carried out tests on Uche Amajor said there was no evidence that he is suffering from hepatitis. A judge is scheduled to rule soon whether Uche Moses Amajor should remain in prison custody or be released for so-called hepatitis treatment on the strength of a medical report that has provoked some prison officials to call on the director-general of prisons to investigate and discipline the doctor who wrote it.

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Prison break in Port Harcourt -5 prisoners escape

 About five inmates of  Port Harcourt prisons escaped following a jail break, yesterday, said a prison source, who craved  anonymity.

Meanwhile, Governor Chibuike Amaechi, has urged residents and visitors to Port Harcourt not to panic as the situation had been brought under control.

The Governor said security agents moved in quickly immediately the incident occurred and restored law and  order to the prison.

“The State Police Commissioner and the Prison’s boss have assured me that order had been restored to the prison. Security agents have further assured me that there was no cause for alarm as they are on top of it and had commenced a manhunt for the handful of inmates that got away.”

 “Although, security and the management of prisons are under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal Government, in the days ahead, we will meet with the police and prison authorities to look at what happened and how we can help to forestall a reoccurrence,” the Governor said.

The source, a staff of the Port Harcourt prisons, blamed the escape of the inmates on  negligence on the part of the warders.

Ruling out jailbreak, the source said some inmates at the prison had access to mobile phones with which they maintain contact with relatives and friends outside.  According to the source, the situation at the prison would have been bloody if it was a jailbreak attempt.

Vanguard gathered that about 30 of the inmates initially  escaped but 25 were later apprehended.

The Police on its part alleged that none of the inmates escaped. According to the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ben Ugwuegbulam, police mobilised and took charge of the situation as soon as they were alerted by the Deputy Comptroller of the Prisons.    

He added that they successfully foiled the jailbreak attempt by the inmates.

According to the Police spokesman, a convicted kidnapper and another kidnapper awaiting trial were among those apprehended. He said the inmates attempted to scale the high wall of the Port Harcourt prisons with rustic iron beds, which they arranged in the form of a ladder.

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