Nigeria: That Audacious Attack On Kuje Prison!

 By Ayo Oyoze Baje

 “There can be no faith in government if our highest offices are excused from scrutiny. They should be setting the examples” -Edward Snowden

They come in with guts, grits and such a high level of gruesomeness to unleash terror on innocent Nigerians and yet go Scot-free! The dare-devil bravado of these unpatriotic elements cannot but ignite in you the urge to ask the million-naira question of who really owns this country, Nigeria? Right from 2009 the mindless mission of the terrorists (call them Boko Haram insurgents, bandits or ISWAP) has been to turn the apple cart against the peaceful cohabitation of the good citizens of the country, by deploying ethno-religious sentiments.

Unfortunately, they seem to be succeeding in the heinous crimes against Nigerians and smiling all the way to their blood banks! That brings in the pains, considering the several thousands of those who have lost their lives to their deadly attacks; others who have lost loved ones and thousands of those left to stew on in preventable anguish in several IDP camps. Add the humongous public sums budgeted every blessed year, surreptitiously to fight the insurgency and the pitiable plight of the people in the face of insurgency and the nebulous picture gets clearer. But, it is only part of their nefarious agenda to bring the indigenous people of Nigeria to their begging knees.

Their latest affront in the ever-increasing attacks was that on Kuje prison which the terrorist group, Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) has claimed responsibility. According to the video lasting 38 seconds, released by the Islamic State’s A’maq Agency with a caption in Arabic, it translated as: “Fighters of Islamic State attacked Kuje prison in Abuja yesterday in freeing dozens of prisoners.” In the footage, sporadic gunshots were heard and vehicles in the custodial centre were set ablaze by the attackers.

Going by the statement signed by the Service Public Relations Officer, Mr. Abubakar Umar on Wednesday, 6th July, 2022,  the Correctional Service stated that: “A total of 879 inmates escaped from the facility during the unfortunate attack. As at the time of this report, 443 have been recaptured, 551 inmates are currently in custody, 443 inmates are still at large.”

The statement added that: “Four inmates are dead and 16 inmates sustained various degrees of injuries and are being treated at the moment. However, efforts are ongoing to recapture all fleeing inmates.” But before you get carried away by the sheer wave of media attention that the jailbreak at Kuje prison has attracted let us recall that similar attacks have taken place in recent years.

For instance, it would be recalled that on September 12, 2021, at least 240 inmates escaped the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC) in Kabba, Kogi State, following an attack by some identified gunmen. The attack, according to the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) spokesman, Mr. Francis Enobore took place at about midnight. Yet, up till the moment no one has been apprehended for carrying out the incident!

It was ditto for the jailbreak that took place at the Jos Correctional Center in Plateau State on November 28, 2021. It was the fifth of such jail breaks over the past two years, igniting the question as to how really secure Nigerian prisons are.

On October 19, 2020, during the #EndSARS protest that vibrated across the entire country, heavily armed gunmen in their hundreds, simultaneously attacked two correctional facilities in Benin City and Oko, Edo State, setting free about 1,933 inmates. Some of the escapees were apprehended and brought back from Ghana and the Benin Republic.

Again, on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021, unknown gunmen, armed with sophisticated weapons, attacked the Owerri Correctional Center facility and set free a whopping 1,844 inmates. There were subsequent ones on October 22, 2021, at the Okitipupa Prison in Ondo State where about 58 inmates were freed and the Abolongo Correctional Center in Oyo town, Oyo State, on October 22, 2021, when gunmen broke into the facility without resistance, and freed 907 inmates. But according to the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, 446 have been recaptured, while 69 never left the facility.

In spite of such claims, the recent attack on Kuje prison has put on the front burner the several loopholes apparent in the security architecture of several correctional centres across the country. And there are burning questions waiting for urgent answers.

If investigations into the incident prove it to be true, that some of the security personnel were absent at their posts when over a hundred members of ISWAP swooped on the prison, and that there was indeed a forewarning of an attack from intelligence report, some people must be held responsible for the mayhem that took place. How come that a correctional centre meant to have a maximum of some 500 inmates hosted nearly a thousand?

What about the allegation that parts of the prison through which the terrorist gained entrance were found to be built with weak sand instead of strengthened concrete? With the presence of an air force base and some military formations not far away from Kuje prison, how did ISWAP have a field day entering the area unchecked?

Eyewitnesses reports who live close by claimed they had noticed an unusual presence of unknown groups of men sitting at different positions, smoking some substances along the street where the prison is located.

Not long after that, they heard sounds from the explosives, more like dynamites three to four times during the attack. Over 800 of the 994 inmates on that fateful night escaped, including 64 Boko-Haram members previously held in the facility.

With all that has taken place, one is not surprised that the United States Embassy has warned its citizens in Nigeria against travelling on the airport road in Abuja. Also, United Kingdom citizens were warned to be cautious of travelling to 19 states in Nigeria. President, Muhammadu Buhari should go beyond the usual blame game and ensure that all those found culpable in the Kuje saga are brought to speedy justice. Pampering killers with amnesty programmes will only encourage unemployed youth of like mind to join the fray. By the way, what has happened to Nigerians identified as sponsors of terrorism?

In addition, citizens should be enlightened on the significance of information sharing with security forces; trusting of course, that they will collate, analyze and act decisively on such vital information. The time to act is now before another jailbreak!

*Baje is the President of Guild of Public Affairs Analysts of Nigeria (GPAAN)