Some prisoners in the correctional centre in Abolongo, Oyo State, South-West Nigeria, have escaped the facility after some gunmen attacked the centre and overpowered officials and security operatives.
According to reports, the incident happened around 10pm on Friday night.
The attackers allegedly stormed the correctional centre, throwing grenades to scare away the officials and forcefully gaining access to the facility.
The facility was thrown into chaos with warders fleeing for safety after the attack.
As of the time of this report, it was not known whether the mission was to free prisoners.
Furthermore, it is not known if there are casualties or the extent of damage to the facility.
It was gathered, however, that other security agencies have mobilized their personnel to assist officers in hunting down the gunmen and re-arresting freed prisoners.
The arrival of the security operatives resulted in some prisoners who tried to escape being re-arrested immediately.
Olanrewaju Anjorin, the Public Relations Officer of the Command, confirmed the attack on Saturday.
Anjorin said that senior officers of the Command were on their way to assess the level of damage.
He said: “Yes. It has been confirmed that the attack actually happened.
“And right now, the comptroller of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) and other top officers are assessing the situation. But, I can confirm to you that the incident actually happened”.
The Oyo incident comes a day after petrol bomb-throwing hoodlums attacked the Isiala Mbano police station in Imo State,
CSP Michael Abattam, who confirmed the Imo incident, said the terrorists arrived in five cars and three motorcycles around 6 p.m. on Thursday.
The petrol bombs further damaged the station building, which was already compromised during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests.
Abattam added that the police were able to repel the terrorists who fled when they returned fire.
He stated that one officer was injured in the attack, but no arm was lost.