At least, 21 of the 262 of the correctional service inmates who escaped from the Jos custodial centre after gunmen attacked the facility, have now been recaptured, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
The spokesperson of the command, Geofrey Longdiem, disclosed this on Tuesday in Jos.
Some 262 inmates escaped from the facility on November 28, but the interior ministry said 10 of them had been recaptured.
The spokesperson of NCoS, Francis Enobore, in a statement then announced that 10 persons were killed and 262 inmates escaped during the attack by gunmen.
This newspaper reported how gunmen stormed the facility in the late evening of Sunday and engaged the security personnel of the NCoS in a sporadic gun battle before advancing into the yard.
The police said some escaped inmates had been rearrested. The attackers were ‘trapped’ within the facility after a gun duel. It is not clear how the standoff ended.
The Jos Medium Security Custodial Centre had 1,060 inmates constituting 560 pre-trial detainees and 500 convicts.
In July, Jos Maximum Prison was attacked and four inmates escaped.
This jailbreak adds up to the 5,238 inmates that have escaped from various prisons across Nigeria in the last one year.
The deputy controller General of NCoS, Mohammed Tukur, in charge of Operations, blamed the attack on the ”use of modern equipment and other gadgets”.
Mr. Longdiem said the Service had in collaboration with other security agencies was working assiduously to arrest the remaining inmates.
“As at today, we have recaptured 21 of the inmates who escaped during the last attack at our custodial centre in Jos,” he said
He said some of the inmates voluntarily returned.
NAN also reports that two of the inmates were brought back to the custodial centre by their mother.
The ministry of interior later shared the details of those still on the run.
It advised the public to report to the nearest police station if they came in contact with the persons, warning that they were dangerous.
“The above wanted persons escaped lawful custody from the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Jos on Sunday 28 November, 2021,” it said.
Following these attacks, Nigerian lawmakers summoned the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola; the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa,
About 1993 inmates escaped during the Edo jailbreak in 2020. A similar development occurred in a correctional centre in Owerri, the Imo State capital, where 1,844 prisoners were freed. But 84 inmates were returned to the facility.
