Kuje prison: ‘I warned Aregbesola over attack’

Dr Sadiq Amali of the Department of Sociology, Federal University Jigawa, has disclosed that he saw the attack on the medium security correctional facility in Kuje, Abuja, coming.

While speaking about the attack on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, Dr Amali said he had written to the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, about the pending attacks.

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Gunmen, believed to be terrorists, in their hundreds, invaded the facility on Tuesday night.

The attackers used explosives and gained entry through the main entrance and the fence of the facility.

A total of 879 inmates escaped from the facility during the attack with about 70 of them being suspected members of the Boko Haram terrorist group.

The security expert said if actions were not taken by authorities, the attacks might continue.

“I had professional contact with the minister [of Interior] and the Controller General of Corrections on the rising cases of jail attacks in the country.

“I saw it coming. This is not the first time it’s happened and unfortunately, this might not be the last.

“When they were decongesting the custodial centres during Covid, I had professional contact with the minister and I advised him on certain measures and the dangers of decongesting the prisons.

“What if they [released inmates] go back to the wider society and try to collaborate with other dangerous elements and try to release their fellow colleagues that are in custody.

“I saw it coming, the minister reacted to my correspondence and I think that maybe the security measures put in place were not adequate, or maybe there is a bit of laxity on the part of the correctional service.”

While describing the attack as a national embarrassment, the specialist in offenders’ rehabilitation faulted the intelligence gathering and sharing capacities of security agencies in Nigeria.

He also said there had been a decline in the security apparatus in custodial facilities across the country, calling on the government to take immediate steps to address loopholes.