7 Apr 2021
Heavily armed militants attacked a prison facility in Nigeria’s southeastern city of Owerri on Monday, allowing nearly 2,000 inmates to escape.
Armed gunmen stormed the Owerri prison on April 5 at around 2:15 a.m., according to the Nigerian Correctional Service. Some militants used explosives and rocket-propelled grenades to detonate sections of the building.
“The Owerri Custodial Centre in Imo state has been attacked by unknown gunmen and forcefully released a total of 1,844 inmates in custody,” a spokesman for the Nigerian prison service said in a statement Monday.
“The attackers who stormed the facility … gained entrance into the yard by using explosives to blast the administrative block,” Nigerian Correctional Service Spokesman Francis Enobore said. “They were said to have arrived [at] the center in their large number in several Hilux pick-up vans and Sienna buses armed with sophisticated weapons and immediately engaged the security personnel on duty
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•Says incident act of terrorism
•IG blames IPOB’s ESN for assault
•Uzodimma calls for investigation
Deji Elumoye, Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja and Amby Uneze in Owerri
President Muhammadu Buhari has directed all security and intelligence agencies to ensure the arrest and prosecution of all those behind yesterday’s dawn attacks on both the Imo State Police Command Headquarters and the correctional facility in Owerri.
Buhari, in a statement by his media aide, Mallam Garba Shehu, described the attacks as an act of terrorism.
Gunmen had launched coordinated attacks on the state police command headquarters and the correctional facility during which they set some inmates free.
The Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Adamu has asked officers of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) not to hesitate in defending themselves by using firearms.
IGP Adamu stated this on Tuesday when he visited Imo state for an on-the-spot assessment after the attack on the command headquarters by gunmen on Monday.
The gunmen also attacked the Nigerian Correctional Services freeing an unspecified number of prison inmates.
Channels Television gathered that the attack occurred in the early hours of Monday after which the hoodlums set the facilities ablaze.
IGP Adamu is briefed on the damages carried out by the attackers
During the attack, one person suspected to be a fleeing inmate was hit by a bullet while carrying his travel bag.