The Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdurahaman Dambazzau (retd.), has attributed the escape by two inmates at the Medium Prison, Kuje, Abuja, last Friday, to security lapses in the facility.
Speaking with newsmen on Monday shortly after he was taken round the facility and briefed on how the prisoners escaped, Dambazzau said investigation into the matter would be taken to a logical conclusion.
Dambazzau stated that he observed the security lapses the last time he visited the prisons and also brought it to the notice of the authorities, but added that nothing was done about it.
Two inmates standing trial for murder, Maxwell Ajukwu and Solomon Amodu, who escaped from the facility by scaling the fence, are still at large.
He said, “The last time I was here, I noticed some security gaps in the prison, I made my observation known to the former CG with the present Comptroller of Prison, and I noticed the security gap and I told them precisely what to do, but unfortunately this has occurred.”
“Two prisoners escaped and especially, these are prisoners who are awaiting trial for murder. So, this is a very serious issue that I cannot be happy about. I think those lapses were the ones that made it possible for the escape.”
The minister assured Nigerians that the government would do everything possible to ensure that Nigeria Prison was made a better place for inmates who passed through the prison formations.
Meanwhile, an investigative panel has been set up to investigate the incident while the Controller-General of Prisons, Ahmed Jafa’aru, had been directed to work closely with the police, the Nigeria Immigration Service, Department of State Services and other security agencies to ensure speedy re-arrest of the fugitives.
The minister also directed the CG to urgently carry out an appraisal of the security arrangements in the nation’s prisons and “emplace measures that would make such escape impossible.”
Speaking with newsmen on Monday shortly after he was taken round the facility and briefed on how the prisoners escaped, Dambazzau said investigation into the matter would be taken to a logical conclusion.
Dambazzau stated that he observed the security lapses the last time he visited the prisons and also brought it to the notice of the authorities, but added that nothing was done about it.
Two inmates standing trial for murder, Maxwell Ajukwu and Solomon Amodu, who escaped from the facility by scaling the fence, are still at large.
He said, “The last time I was here, I noticed some security gaps in the prison, I made my observation known to the former CG with the present Comptroller of Prison, and I noticed the security gap and I told them precisely what to do, but unfortunately this has occurred.”
“Two prisoners escaped and especially, these are prisoners who are awaiting trial for murder. So, this is a very serious issue that I cannot be happy about. I think those lapses were the ones that made it possible for the escape.”
The minister assured Nigerians that the government would do everything possible to ensure that Nigeria Prison was made a better place for inmates who passed through the prison formations.
Meanwhile, an investigative panel has been set up to investigate the incident while the Controller-General of Prisons, Ahmed Jafa’aru, had been directed to work closely with the police, the Nigeria Immigration Service, Department of State Services and other security agencies to ensure speedy re-arrest of the fugitives.
The minister also directed the CG to urgently carry out an appraisal of the security arrangements in the nation’s prisons and “emplace measures that would make such escape impossible.”
