The Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) Tuesday announced the recapture of twenty-five inmates that escaped from the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Koton Karfe, Kogi State.
It said a manhunt for 97 other fleeing inmates was ongoing, with a view to getting back into custody.
A spokesperson for the correctional service, Francis Enobore, who disclosed this in a statement, said 122 inmates, not 227 had escaped from the facility on Monday, following the heavy downpour in the community, which led to flooding.
The flooding had brought down the perimeter fence of the prison facility, thereby facilitating escape.
“As a result of the heavy downpour and flooding of Koton Karfe and its environs the inmates of the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Koton Karfe including those so far recaptured have been successfully evacuated to safer locations and no life was lost in the incident.
“The Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Ja’afaru Ahmed gave the evacuation order when he visited the center for on the spot assessment.
“A torrential downpour on Monday 28th October 2019 caused a surging flood that overran the centre at about 0200hrs pulling down a section of the perimeter fence. The inmates’ cells and offices were also submerged forcing some of the inmates to break out of custody for safety.
“At the time of the incident, the facility had a total of 227 inmates. While 122 used the opportunity to escape, 105 of them stayed back. However, 25 of the escapees have been recaptured leaving 97 still at large”, Enobore stated.
He added that: “The efforts of the government and good people of Kogi State including officers and men of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the local vigilante in the community in assisting personnel of the Correctional Service to carry out search and rescue operation is highly appreciated.
“While assuring the safety of inmates in other facilities in the State and indeed other parts of the country, the Controller-General wishes to appeals to members of the public to provide useful intelligence that will facilitate swift recapture of the fleeing inmates”.
