Shortly after the terrorists attacked the Custodial Centre in the Kuje area council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Tuesday night, the whereabouts of suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, has been in shrouded controversy.
Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja, was attacked by bandits where he and other high profile detainees were being detained.
Kyari who is being held for alleged drug trafficking and money laundering charges was earlier said to to have been absent when a check was done to ascertain inmates left behind after the jailbreak.
Crossfire Reports gathered that the terrorists invasion of the prison lasted hours, leading to the escape of some inmates which included Boko Haram terrorists and other high-profile inmates in the prison.
Police sources say that the facility is being protected by operatives from Mopol 50, Mopol 21 in addition to the Prison officials and operatives of the NSCDC. There are also reports that soldiers stationed to guard the facility were withdrawn 24 hours before the attack. The Kuje facility houses over 900 inmates including Abbah Kyari.
According to reports, Abbah Kyari was conspicuously absent during the Subhi (early morning) prayer as usual adding that the whereabouts of Kyari remained unknown to him as at 09.30am.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Correctional Service, spokesperson, Umar Abubakar, said “Kyari is not missing”. According to him, Kyari has not been moved from the Kuje prison.
“He is still in our custody. Nothing happened to him. He has not been moved,” as reported by The PUNCH.
In a statement on Wednesday, Abubakar said the armed squad of the service in collaboration with other security agencies responded to the attack.
The statement was titled, “Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kuje attacked by gunmen.”
It read, “I wish to confirm that at about 2200hrs, some yet-to-be-identified gunmen attacked the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kuje, in the Federal Capital Territory.
“However, men of the Armed Squad of the Nigerian Correctional Service and other security agencies attached to the Custodial Centre have responded and calm has been restored to the facility and the situation is under control
“Other details will be made available soon.” The statement reads.
Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Dr Shuaib Belgore, said over 600 of the inmates fled the prisons when it came under attack late Tuesday night.
According to Belgore, Boko Haram terrorists who came specifically for their members held in the custody were responsible for the ugly incident.
According to him, about 300 had been recaptured, while 300 were still at large.
“There have been several attacks on our facilities most of them are being repelled, but every now and then, there is one that they have succeeded. In this is one they came very determined with high explosives.
“The initial entry attempt was unsuccessful, then they attacked another section of the wall with higher grade explosives which brought the wall down.
“The forces on the ground did everything they could to repel them but the number they came with was high which they were not able to defend against.
“They kept on fighting gallantly. Unfortunately, the breach happened. Reinforcement came when they were halfway through it. They were eventually repelled.
“At the time they came in they killed one NSCDC operative while trying to save the situation. The inmates here are 994.
“We understand they are Boko Haram terrorists and came specifically for their conspirators. Many of them have returned, some were retrieved from the bushes they were hiding, right now we have retrieved about 300 out of about 600 that got out of the jail.” He said.
Credits except headline: THE NETWORK, THE PUNCH.
