John Adams Minna
More facts have emerged as to why some gunmen attacked the Minna Medium Security Prison on Sunday night, killing a prison officer and a motorcyclist.
Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau, yesterday in Minna, said that the gunmen might have come to free two condemned criminals whose death warrants were to be signed yesterday.
Speaking to newsmen after an on-the-spot assessment of the prison, Dambazau said that two condemned prisoners where among the escapees.
“Among the escapees were two condemned criminals, who were supposed to have been executed (yesterday). That is probably part of the motivation for this prisonbreak. However, investigation will bring out most of these things, and I am sure we will get to the root of this, at least to forestall future occurrences,” he said.
He disclosed that 182 out of the 210 prisoners that were in the prison at the time of the incident were still at large.
The minister admitted that there were some security gaps in the prison, which made the raid easy for the gunmen. He also stated that such gaps would be plugged immediately.
“The visit here revealed that there are some security gaps, which must be tackled to prevent future recurrence,” the minister said.
He, stated that a committee has been set up to investigate the cause of the incident, adding that the ministry would work with the outcome of the committee.
Comptroller-general of Nigeria Prisons Service, Alhaji Ja’afaru Ahmed, who accompanied the minister, dismissed the insinuation that there were Boko Haram inmates in the prison, which probably could be the reason the prison was attacked.
He said: “There is no Boko Haram suspect in Minna Prison. We do not know who attacked the prison yet but investigations will reveal it.”
Niger State governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, described the incident as unfortunate, adding that the state would partner with the federal government towards ensuring that there is no recurrence.
He further said that the incident has opened the eyes of the government to the shortage of manpower in the Nigeria Prison Service.