The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has expressed disappointment over the ease at which gunmen invaded the medium security custodial facility in Kuje and released inmates on Tuesday night.
The Minister who inspected the level of damages at the custodial centre on Friday evening insisted that there was an adequate deployment of security personnel at the facility.
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He however expressed dismay that security operatives abandoned their position to allow the hoodlums to have a free day.
Speaking to the press at the facility, Aregbesola said: “We have a world-class facility here by any standard. I am disappointed with the level of defence.
“We had enough men to protect this facility but unfortunately they couldn’t hold their position effectively for defence and that was the reason for the breach.
“Kuje is the most fortified in the country. If fortification for security is the determinant of whether it is medium or maximum, it is medium by size but maximum by the security being put there.
“We have a platoon of security officers deployed here.
“We have the high grade of military and police and other security forces deployed for protection but strangely something happened most of which I cannot say on camera.”
He, therefore, reiterated his earlier directive that all custodial facilities in the country are red zones, charging security personnel at those facilities to defend them.
“Now my position is so clear, I have declared since April last year that all our facilities are red zones and that whoever attempts an attack must not live to tell the story. I still maintain this, ” he said.
He vowed to ensure that all fleeing inmates are recaptured.
Gunmen, believed to be terrorists, in their hundreds, invaded the Kuje custodial centre on Tuesday night.
The attackers used explosives and gained entry through the main entrance and the fence of the facility.
