Escapees from Nigeria’s correctional centres in the last two years, who have not been recaptured, were reported to be about 4,000. This is alarming. Also disturbing is that this could be a conservative estimate.
Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) spokesperson Abubakar Umar was reported saying, “For the purpose of being very sure and exact about the figure, we cannot for now ascertain the number of fleeing inmates, but we are making efforts to do that.” This shows poor record keeping. It is inexcusable that the agency does not know how many prisoners are on the loose.
The estimated 4,000 escapees, from at least eight jailbreaks across the country in 2021 and 2022, pose a serious danger to society, as many of them are said to be dangerous criminals. The series of jailbreaks in the two years further exposed poor security in the country’s correctional centres.
For instance, in April 2021, “unknown gunmen” attacked the Owerri Custodial Centre in Imo State and “forcefully released a total of 1,844 inmates in custody.” The attackers “gained entrance into the yard by using explosives to blast the administrative block,” according to an official statement. Another major jailbreak happened in September 2021, at Kabba Correctional Centre, Kogi State, where over 2,400 inmates escaped. The authorities said 114 of them were recaptured. In October 2021, gunmen attacked Abolongo Medium Security Custodial Centre, Oyo State, and freed 837 inmates. According to the authorities, 262 of them were recaptured. In November 2021, 262 inmates escaped from Jos Correctional Centre, Plateau State, after gunmen invaded the facility.
The prison break at Kuje Custodial Centre, Abuja, in July 2022, further heightened public concern about insecurity in the country, particularly because this happened in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the seat of the Federal Government. The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) claimed responsibility for the attack on the prison, which led to the escape of about 900 inmates, including 64 “high-profile Boko Haram terrorists.” Official figures indicated that 421 escapees were recaptured, but did not clarify if these included the terrorists.
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Apart from the reported escapees at large, from jailbreaks in 2021 and 2022, the history of jailbreaks in the country shows that there were 18 cases from 2015 to 2022. A December 2021 report said 5,238 inmates escaped from various prisons across Nigeria within a one-year period from October 2020. It is unclear how many of these escapees were recaptured.
This is a bad situation. With so many inmates on the loose, there is an atmosphere of danger, which compounds insecurity in the country. It also defeats the essence of justice. The situation calls into question the capability of the country’s security agencies. Their failure to recapture the inmates on the run reflects ineffectiveness.
It is curious that so many escapees seem to have vanished into thin air. This raises questions about public vigilance and the role of the people in ensuring security by providing information to the security agencies on possible threats to security. For instance, it is unlikely that such escapees have had no interactions with members of the public, who could expose their status as inmates at large. But the lack of official information on the identities of the escapees certainly limits what the public can do to assist the security agencies to recapture them.
The NCoS spokesperson bragged that there were no jailbreaks and prison attacks in 2023, attributing the “achievement” to “the effectiveness of the top-level security measures that have been diligently upheld in our custodial centres across the nation.” If, indeed, there is improved security at the country’s prisons, the authorities must ensure that the vulnerabilities are a thing of the past.
There is no clear picture. But the available figures show that unacceptably large numbers of escapees have not been recaptured. The authorities must ensure that they are caught.
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