Heavy Rain Destroys Prison Wall In Nigeria's Suleja, 119 Inmates Escaped

Wall of an old prison in Nigeria”s Suleja collapsed due to heavy downpour which lasted for several hours on April 24. The collapse of the wall has caused the escape of over 119 prisoners from the Medium Security Custodial Centre. The Deputy Superintendent of Corrections Command Public Relations Officer, FCT Command, AS Duza said efforts have been asserted to recapture the escapees and 10 of them are already caught. He said the security services are “in hot chase to recapture the rest”. The Deputy Superintendent also asked the public to provide information and report on “any suspicious movement to the nearest security agency”.

As per Duza, the prison facility has been built during the colonial era of the country and is old and weak. He added that efforts are being done for the renovation of the prison. “This is evidenced in the ongoing construction of six (6) number 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”, said Duza, as quoted by Channels Television.

As per one of the resident of Suleja, the heavy rain stripped down the part of a fence that was undergoing repairs. The inner facility”s fence belonged to one of the cells where inmates are kept. According to the resident named Babangida Turaki, security team has been sent to strategic outlets and blackspots of the town where the inmates of the prison could possibly hide.

The Suleja town has returned to normalcy while search are still going on. The incident happened as teh Federal Government was ramping up efforts to decongest the country”s prisons. In last November, it was said that there are plans to release over 4,068 prisoners across the country.