400 inmates at large 13 months after Kuje attack

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400 inmates at large 13 months after Kuje attack

Thirteen months after the attack on the Kuje medium custodial centre in the Federal Capital Territory, over 400 fleeing inmates have yet to be recaptured.

The names, images, and prison identification numbers of the fleeing inmates who were declared wanted were sighted by our correspondent on Friday on the Nigerian Correctional Service’s website.

On the website, a total of 460 fleeing inmates were still at large while 26 escapees have so far been recaptured.

The PUNCH reports that over 900 inmates, including 64 high-profile Boko Haram terrorists, fled the facility during a jailbreak on July 5, 2022.

Hours later, the Islamic State in West Africa Province claimed responsibility for the attack and released a video to buttress its claim.

Security operatives later launched a manhunt for the escapees and about 421 were recaptured.

To recapture the others, the Federal Government uploaded their data to the International Criminal Police Organisation’s database.

Out of the 26 recaptured inmates, 10 were linked with terrorism, 10 were categorised as others, two were said to be sexual offenders, two were jailed for stealing, and two were jailed for robbery and drugs.

The NCoS spokesperson, Umar Abubakar, who previously spoke with The PUNCH, said the recapturing of the fleeing inmates was a work in progress, noting that all security agencies were working on recapturing the inmates.

Abubakar stated, “Security issues have no time limit until one is able to achieve a set target. As such, all security agencies are on the same page looking for the escapees to be recaptured and brought back to custody and to answer for their offences. Until then, it is still a work in progress.”

A security expert and the Chief Executive Officer of Beacon Consulting Limited, Kabir Adamu, stated that the purpose of criminals at custodial centres to serve as a deterrent to others was beginning to lose its aim.

Adamu explained, “Since the prison attacks in 2021 and 2022, most of these inmates have yet to be arrested or returned. So, we are back to what these criminals did before and there are tendencies that they will go back to their crimes.

“This implies that the criminal activities in the country will continue. There are high rates of abduction. At the end of June this year, my security firm released a bi-annual security report indicating that over 4,000 Nigerians were killed and over 1,600 abducted within the period.

“This is a consequence of our inability to keep these convicts and fugitives in the detention centres, as well as other factors. There is a collapse of the deterrent system within our Judiciary.”