Rivers jail break: 4 inmates at large, 6 injured

 Four escaped inmates from the Port Harcourt Ahoda Prison are still at large, Minister of Interior, Comrade Patrick Abba Moro,  has said. 

Speaking yesterday through his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. George Udoh, Moro said six other inmates, who were critically injured during the jail break, would be returned to the prison after their treatment.

The inmates on Saturday went on a rampage at about 5pm, vandalised the office of the chief warden, burnt vital documents and destroyed the Close-Circuit Camera used in monitoring them. The minister, however, said the situation has been brought under control and assured that the incident would be investigated immediately.

Read More...

Breaking News – Oko Federal Prison In Benin Bombed, Inmates Escaped

Suspected criminals today bombed the federally-operated maximum security prison in Oko, Edo state. The attack carried out by unidentified person reportedly triggered escape by some inmates. 

 Eight inmates of Oko Prison in Benin City, Edo state early hours on Sunday morning escaped from the prison custody due to attack on it by umknown gunmen. BusinessDay reports that gunmen attacked the prison at about 1:40 am with sophisticated weapons including dynamites.

 It was gathered that two out of the escaping inmates were however apprehended by the prison officials. It was learnt that the gunmen attacked the prison in a bid to resue some of their friends that have been condenmed to death It was also the prison comptroller_ General who was at the state for a wedding on Saturday has visited the prison to ascertain the situation by heself when BusinessDay visited the prison premises men of anti- riot policemen have been deployed to the area.

Read More...

SUNDAY PRISON BREAK UPDATE:Boko haram Free 40 of Their Member in Damaturu Prison

Suspected members of the Jam’atul Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad otherwise known as Boko Haram, yesterday, staged a daring attack on the Damaturu prison on Gashua Road, and set free 40 of their members who were being detained.

 A fleeing inmate was said to have been killed while a prison warder was injured during the attack. Police spokesperson, Mr Frank Mba, who confirmed the incident, said unknown gunmen staged a jailbreak yesterday in Damaturu and freed about 40 inmates, adding that a prison warder was injured and that one fleeing inmate was killed in a gunfight. 

 In another development, spokesman of the Boko Haram sect, Abu Qaqa, has said the sect was not responsible for bomb that was found in a mosque in Kano, on Friday. Qaqa in a statement, yesterday, said: “In respect of what we heard in the media yesterday (Friday) that some people attempted to detonate a bomb in a Juma’at mosque in Kano, this movement Jama’atu Ahlissunnah Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad hereby dissociates itself from this act.

 “We are fully aware of this kind of conspiracy by the SSS, following a similar pattern of their counterparts in other countries to tarnish the image and reputation of Islamic fighters, they will not succeed, God’s willing. “Everyone knows that we are waging Jihad to restore the supremacy of Islam, which is why we are labelled ‘Muslim fundamentalists’, how on earth can we then attempt to destroy a Muslim place of worship. This is, therefore, a conspiracy by those that are averse to the enthronement of an Islamic state, and they will not succeed by God’s grace.”

Read More...

Two killed as gunmen attack prison, police station

TWO Nigerian Prison warders were yesterday killed when gunmen attacked a Police station and a nearby prison in north eastern town of Kumshe, Bama Local Government Area of Borno State. Spokesman of the Police in Borno State, ASP Samuel Tizhe confirmed the incident from Maiduguri the capital city.

 He said the “gunmen first attacked a Police station in Banki town but were repelled by the Police” Tizhe added that, “five hours later, the gunmen went and attacked a nearby Prison in the town, killing two Prison warders and setting free all the inmates,” Tizhe said on phone from Maiduguri. The spokesman revealed that the Police have “so far arrested 23 persons in connection with the attacks”. 

 He pointed out that the security agencies are doing everything possible to ensure the protection of lives and property of the citizenry, even as he advised members of the public to cooperate with the police, particularly in giving information about the hideout of criminals in the state, stressing that, all information received from the public will be treated with confidentiality, adding that a handsome award awaits anybody with information that will lead to the arrest of criminals in the state.

Read More...

Gunmen raid police station in Anambra, free suspects

BARELY 24 hours after four policemen were killed by robbers in Anambra State, gunmen, numbering about seven, attacked a police station in Amichi, Nnewi South Local Government Area, releasing suspects and carting away 14 AK-47 riffles and rounds of ammunition from the armoury. 

 According to an eyewitness, the robbers, who struck at about 2.30 a.m on Tuesday, opened fire on the police station, wounding one of the policemen on duty while others ran away. The source disclosed that the robbers had a field day ransacking the deserted police station, after they had released the suspects in the police cell and broke into the armoury. 

 “The heavy sound of gun shots woke the entire neighbourhood and the shooting lasted for about two hours before they drove away without resistance,” the source said. Another police source who pleaded for anonymity told the Nigerian Tribune that the robbers had been targeting police stations to refill their supply of weapons, adding that the same gang were responsible for the double attack within 24 hours. 

 The source, however, assured that the police were on the trail of the robbers and would soon apprehend them. Efforts to reach the Anambra State Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), Emeka Chukwu-emeka, for comments, were unsuccessful, as his cell phone was ringing without response.

Read More...

36 Kogi Prison jail breaks re-arrested

The Nigeria Prisons Service, NPS, said 36 of the 72 prisoners who escaped from Koton Karfe Prison in Kogi State, on February 17, have so far been re-arrested. Mr Kayode Odeyemi, Deputy Controller of Prisons and spokesman for the service, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Abuja on yesterday.

 Odeyemi said the service was committed to ensuring that all those who escaped were re-arrested and made to face the law. It would be recalled that some unknown gunmen invaded the Koton Karfe Prison on February 17 and freed the prisoners. NAN recalls that an official of the prison was shot dead by the assailants during the incident.

 Meanwhile, the Nigeria Prison Service has denied any jail break in Gboko, Benue State. Odeyemi, who made the denial, told NAN that “all I know is that there were some disturbances in Gboko Prison by prisoners”. “The prisoners, who were on hunger strike, were protesting against the ban on the use of GSM; they also called for speedy trials of their cases.”

Read More...