Gunfire caused confusion at
Kuje Prison, Abuja, on Monday, following a riot by some inmates, who
resisted the attempt by prison officials to search their cells for
banned items.
It was gathered that security operatives fired gunshots and tear gas canisters to restore law and order and control the rioters.
This happened 11 days after a similar
incident in Abakaliki Prison, Ebonyi State, that led to the death of six
inmates and injuries to four prison warders.
The Monday riot occurred two months
after two inmates, standing trial for culpable homicide, escaped from
the Kuje Prison on June 25. The fleeing inmates have yet to be
re-arrested.
Sources in the prison said the violent
protest was brought under control by the armed squad of the Nigerian
Prisons Service supported by soldiers providing additional security
cover for the formation.
The incident, it was learnt, caused
panic among residents of Kuje community, who believed that the prison
was under attack by terrorists.
The Controller of Prisons, FCT Command,
Daniel Odharo, in a statement, confirmed the crisis at the prison but
said there was no injury or escape by inmates.
Odharo said, “At about 1000hrs on
Monday, staff of Kuje Prison carried out a routine cell-search which is a
part of the prisons operational guidelines to prevent the breach of
security within and around the prisons.
“Some inmates tried to resist the
exercise, which led to an altercation between the search party and the
inmates. This was quickly put under effective control. No prisoner was
injured, no property damaged and the yard is calm and peaceful.”
Investigations by one of our
correspondents indicated that the violence was instigated by convicts,
who refused to allow warders to carry out a search on their cells for
prohibited items.
One of our correspondents gathered from a
reliable source in the prison that during the search, 25 mobile sets
were recovered from a suspected Boko Haram inmate.
The source stated, “The incident
happened this morning. The warders, who were acting on instructions from
the prison authorities, decided to search the cells and seize
prohibited items.
“During the search, they found 25
handsets with a Boko Haram suspect. After a search of the convicts’
cells, they moved to the awaiting-trial cells.
“But those men, who saw the warders
approaching with some ‘already’ seized items, decided to resist them.
They attacked the warders with stones and every object they could lay
their hands on, and in the process, many of the warders were injured.”
It was gathered that after a search,
some substances, suspected to be cannabis, were also uncovered in some
cells and confiscated.
Another prison source reported that the warders, who were overwhelmed, retreated for reinforcement.
They were said to have opened fire on
some of the inmates, during which some of them were injured, though it
could not be ascertained if any of the inmates died as some suspected.
“I can’t say the total number of
casualties among the inmates, but I can confirm to you that many of the
warders were injured,” he added.
The source explained that the inmates
resisted the warders because the prohibited items were brought in by
warders after being tipped.
He said, “The rot in the Nigerian
Prisons Service is serious. The prohibited items that the warders wanted
to seize were brought into the yard by the same warders.
“The inmates had been enjoying this
privilege through trafficking by the warders. It is only natural that
they will fight back, and it is a bad trend for the prisons service.”
It was gathered that the convicts, who
were kept in a block called ‘VIP’, were allowed to enjoy certain
privileges not permitted by the prison rules and regulations.
Sources stated that against prison
rules, awaiting trial inmates were allowed to stay in the VIP block as
it was more comfortable.
It was learnt that the dormitory-like
block, where the awaiting trial inmates were kept, was congested with
poor ventilation while the convicts’ cells were more pleasant to stay.
A source said, “What happened on Monday
was that as the officers moved to carry out a search of their cells, the
inmates refused and before you know it the situation had degenerated
into an altercation between the inmates and the officers with some
convicts trying to physically attack the warders.
“The armed squad had to fire into the air and they also released some tear gas canisters to bring the situation under control.”
In June, the prisons service dismissed a female prison officer for smuggling alcoholic drinks into the Kirikiri prison in Lagos.
About two weeks ago, the Federal
Government dismissed 23 prison officers for alleged complicity in
jailbreaks at the Kuje Medium Security Prison, Abuja, and the
Koton-Karfe Prisons, Kogi State.
The Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and
Prison Services Board, at its emergency meeting held on August 11,
2016, approved the dismissal of three senior prison officers serving in
Kuje Prison and three other senior officers serving in Koton-Karfe
Prison for their complicity in the escape of prisoners from the
respective prisons.
In addition, the Controller-General of
Prisons, Ahmed Ja’afaru, had also approved the dismissal of seven junior
prison officers serving in Kuje Prison and 10 other junior staff
serving in Koton Karfe prison, who were also implicated in the
jailbreaks.
The officer in charge of Nsukka Prison,
Okonkwo Lawrence, and 10 others were also suspended following the escape
of 15 inmates from the prison.
Source: PUNCH.
