The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has urged the 109 inmates who escaped from the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Suleja, Niger State, on Wednesday to voluntarily return to the facility.
He stated that the government has implemented stringent measures to locate them.
News Central reported that the inmates capitalised on a heavy rainfall that damaged parts of the facility to flee custody on Wednesday night.
The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) confirmed that 10 of the 119 fleeing inmates were promptly rearrested and returned to the facility, leaving 109 still at large.
Following the incident, the Federal Government ordered a comprehensive search for the remaining 109 inmates, and security agencies have been alerted to take immediate action.
Tunji-Ojo visited the Suleja Centre to assess the extent of the damage and gather further information on Thursday, April 25.
The Minister stated that if the escaped inmates do not surrender, their biometric information will be made public.
During his visit to the facility, the Minister stated:
“There was a breach on the outer wall of this facility and some of the inmates escaped.
“We were able to recapture 10 out of the 119 that escaped so now 109 are on the run. We have ordered a manhunt. The security agencies are presently going after them and we will do everything humanly possible to make sure that everyone is brought back here.”
Tunji-Ojo also mentioned that the government has taken responsibility for failure to adequately secure the facility structurally. He added that President Bola Tinubu was considering relocating the site.
“We must make sure that this does not happen again. This could have been avoided if the right information at the appropriate time had been disseminated with regards to the structure and others
“But we will get them back, we will secure our correctional facilities and make sure that this doesn’t happen again in Nigeria.
“Obviously the walls are already old and weak, and there are certain responsibilities we must take but we’ll do everything possible to prevent this happening in other facilities,” he said.
He added:
“There are a lot of things that I will not be able to say on camera with regards to the correctional centres, the reporting lines and other issues but we will handle those things behind the scenes.
“We are not here to make excuses, but to take responsibility because we were elected to do the job and that job will be done.
“This is a facility built to hold 250 inmates. Before the incident we had 499 inmates here. This gives credence to our concern regarding overcrowding in our correctional centres.”