A 39-year-old prison escapee, Kabiru Oyedun, has been rearrested by the Lagos State Police Command. The fugitive, who earlier broke out of the Ilesa Correctional Centre in Osun State, was found hiding in the Ayobo area of Lagos. His arrest happened on Tuesday, May 21, 2025, around 5:30 pm.
Prison Escapee Arrested in Lagos After Fleeing Through Fence
Kabiru Oyedun had earlier escaped from the Ilesa prison after a rainfall reportedly destroyed parts of the facility’s fence. He was among several inmates who simply walked out of the correctional centre. What kind of prison system allows people to escape during rainfall? What type of fence collapses because of water? And why do these escapes keep happening in Nigeria?
Benjamin Hundeyin, the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, confirmed to PUNCH Online that officers from Ayobo Division tracked Oyedun down and caught him. In his words, “Kabiru Oyedun was trailed and arrested in Ayobo on May 21, 2025, at about 5:30 pm by operatives of the Command attached to Ayobo Division.”
He added that the operation was part of “proactive and preventive measures” by the Lagos police to stop criminals from hiding in the state. But is this something we should be praising or be ashamed of? If the prisons worked, these same police officers would not be running after escapees in the first place.
Nigeria Has No Real Prison Security
Why is it that Nigerian prisons are so weak that rain can bring down a wall and let inmates run free? That should not be happening in 2025. What kind of correctional service is this, where criminals come and go as they please?
Even the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) was forced to announce a public manhunt for the escapees and placed a reward of N5 million for anyone with useful information. In their official statement, they said:
“To encourage public participation, the Nigerian Correctional Service wishes to inform the general public that a reward of N5 million is being offered to anyone who provides useful information that leads to the recapture of the fleeing inmates from the Medium Custodial Centre, Ilesa, Osun State.”
But this announcement only confirms what everyone already knows — Nigeria’s prison system is broken. If it wasn’t, these men wouldn’t be escaping in the first place.
Prison Escapee Arrested Again in Lagos
The truth is, this case is not about police brilliance. It’s a national embarrassment. The headline says it all, Prison Escapee Arrested Again in Lagos. And that should never have happened. The system failed. The wall failed. The government failed. And it’s the ordinary Nigerians who suffer the consequences when these criminals return to the streets.
Until we build a prison system that actually works, Nigeria will keep chasing the same prisoners over and over again and celebrating arrests that should never have been necessary in the first place.
