A retired military officer and security expert, Group Captain Sadeeq Shehu, has expressed disappointment in the arrangement of Kuje prison saying it was prone to easy intrusion.
Recall that some terrorists on Tuesday night attacked Kuje prison with explosives and other dangerous weapons, and freed all their members and other criminal elements.
Speaking on the incident on Channels Television Shehu said, “I took time to go to Kuje prison for the first time today and I was noting the terrain and the access to the prison.
“As soon as you come to Kuje, the main prison itself, what strikes you is a neglected derelict building.
“The main gate which you’ll enter is so crowded with trees and overgrown shrubs that you can’t see ten metres ahead of you. My estimation is that if somebody with a bad plan wants to move on to Kuje prison, nobody will know he’s approaching until he’s at the facility.”
He added, “I am happy to hear that the President said that he was disappointed.
“If the President had come the way I came, even the outer walls of the Kuje prison are too low for a prison perimeter wall. The barbed wire is against regulation; there are standards for how a security wall that is housing a prison should be.
“You should be talking about a wall that is 8–16 feet (outer) but by my estimation, what I saw was about 7ft maximum. You’re supposed to put three layers of barbed wire on top (of the fence) and the idea is to at least delay an attacker.”
“An intruder can get into that prison easily. First, the place is clustered and overgrown with grasses which will even give any attacker a cover, especially at night to move inwards until where the inmates are kept. The requirement is that there should be two fences in a normal prison.
“Between these two (fences), you’re supposed to have a clear area so that when someone breaches the outer wall, there’s time to engage him before he gets to the main building; that killing zone doesn’t exist there.”