Axiety and fear among residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) over the attack on the Kuje Correctional Centre.
The prison facility was attacked by a large number of terrorists last night.
The invaders were said to have used dynamites to destroy the heavily fortified facility, including the Central Terrorism Unit (CTU), freeing most of the terrorists there.
The facility had over 1,000 inmates at the time of the attack.
Mr. Dayo Ahmadu, a resident of Lugbe, a town in the nation’s capital, wondered why such would happen at a prison in Abuja where all the security architectures are housed.
‘’This is sad. How will the ordinary residents be safe in this kind of situation? We are just at the mercy of God. This is definitely not good for the image of the country,’’ he said.
Another resident, Amina Mohammed, advised the relevant authorities to immediately begin search for the escapees.
‘’Much needs to be done on our security. We are just not safe if this is happening in the nation’s capital, now I can feel what the people in Borno, Niger, Zamfara and Kaduna states are experiencing,’’ he said.
Mr. James Achibo, a Kuje resident, asked the federal government and the FCT Administration to live up to expectations in the area of security.
‘’Divinity will intervene on our behalf but government should wake up to their responsibility. Governance is not about shutting down business places and demolishing illegal structures alone,’’ he said.
Addressing journalists after taking an assessment tour of the facility, the Defence Minister said, “The attack started around 10:30pm They came in their numbers gained entrance into the prison and they released some of the inmates and which we are now following to see the kind of inmates that they have released.”
He added, “Very soon, we will give you the correct figure of the inmates that were taken. Aside that, we are trying to see what we can do to ensure that all escapees are returned back.”
He said the prison is accommodating about 994 inmates and over 600 escaped. “Many people have been recaptured and brought back to the prison.Maybe by the close of the day, more will have been captured and returned.”
He added “I think everything is under control. The people who came to do this activity, from the records, we believe they belong to a particular group. Most likely, they are Boko Haram members because we have sizeable number of Boko Haram suspects in detention, and presently we cannot locate any of them.
He concluded that “I think they are about 64 in the prison and none of them now is available they have all escaped.”
