The Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, has said that about 65 members of Boko Haram terrorsts in Kuje prison are nowhere to be found after the attack on the facility.
Kuje prison in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, was attacked on Tuesday night by gunmen suspected to be members of the terrorist group.
In his response to the attack on Wednesday, Magashi told reporters that there are strong indications Boko Haram terrorists invaded the correctional centre to free their members being held in detention.
The minister said, “Most likely, they are Boko Haram because we have a sizeable number of Boko Harams that are in detention.
“Presently, we could not locate any of them. I think there are about 64 Boko Haram (members) in prison, they have all escaped.”
He said that the Federal Government is working hard to ensure that other fleeing inmates were being recaptured and kept back in the facility.
Magashi assured that the situation is under control.
Noting that the correctional centre could accommodate 994 prison inmates, the Defence Minister said the government had been able to track down 600 inmates who have been recaptured.
Speaking further he said, before the end of the day (Wednesday), many more inmates still hiding would be rearrested and sent back to the facility.
“We are trying to see what we can do to ensure that all the escapees are brought back to the prison yard. I think the prison is an accommodation for about 994 inmate escapees.
“We have 600 already inside now and many people are being captured and brought back to the prison. Maybe by the close of the day, more would have been captured. I think everything is under control,” Magashi added.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Mr Shuaibu Belgore, said over 300 of the inmates had been recaptured and that more are on the way.
He, however, said it was not known yet how many of the gunmen were killed, adding that the government lost one official with three others injured.