The Nigeria Correctional Centre, Suleja, was on Wednesday night, shattered after a heavy rainstorm hit the facility.
D’ Gallery gathered that 119 inmates escaped from the facility in unfortunate circumstances.
The Spokesman of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), Adamu Duza, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.
According to him, the incident took place by 9.00 pm when the storm which came with heavy rain, destroyed parts of the old Suleja custodial centre, making it possible for many inmates to escape from the facility.
He, however, said that there was an ongoing construction of 3000-capacity ultra-modern custodial centres in all the geo-political zones in Nigeria as well as the ongoing reconstruction and renovation of existing ones.
“A heavy downpour that lasted for several hours on the night of Wednesday has wreaked havoc on the medium security Custodial Centre Suleja, Niger State, as well as surrounding buildings destroying parts of the custodian facility, including its perimeter fence, giving way to the escape of a total of 118 inmates of the facility,” he said.
Duza added that the Service had immediately activated its recapturing mechanisms in conjunction with sister security agencies and had so far recaptured 10 fleeing inmates and taken them into custody.
He disclosed that the Service was still on the trail of the fleeing ones to recapture them.
Duza said many of the facilities were built during the Colonial era and are very weak.
“The Service wishes to assure the public that it is on top of the situation and that they should go about their businesses without fear or hindrance,” he said.
“The public is further enjoined to look out for the fleeing inmates and report any suspicious movement to the nearest security agency,” Duza said.
The Comptroller of Corrections (FCT) Command, Francis John, wishes to assure the public that the Service is on top of the situation and that they should go about their normal businesses without fear or hindrance,” the statement said.
