The Kuje Prison on the outskirts of Nigeria’s Federal Capital, Abuja was attacked around 10pm on Tuesday.
A resident at a housing estate in Kuje said gunshots were first fired sporadically about 10pm followed by heavy bombardedment.
Gunshots were still heard up until 11.45pm as security forces rose to defend the facility housing high profile criminals, including disgraced policeman, Abba Kyari.
The details are still sketchy but residents of Kuje Area Council confirmed that there were explosions and sporadic gunfire around Kuje Prison.
The Kuje medium prison facility came under attack about 10:20 pm when what was suspected to be a high calibre bomb went off followed by two more explosions and the ensuing sporadic gunfire that sent residents scampering for safety.
Although there was no official confirmation yet, it was suspected that terrorists had launched a ferocious attack on the prison which triggered a fire-fight with security forces.
The Kuje Correctional Center has had a history of terrorists launching attacks to free colleagues detained there or serving prison sentence.
