At least 118 inmates of the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Suleja, Niger State have taken flight following the heavy downpour and subsequent wreckage of part of the facility on Wednesday night.
The spokesman of the Federal Capital Territory FCT Command of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), Adamu Duza, had revealed this development in a statement on Thursday.
Duza had also revealed that the Service immediately activated its recapturing mechanisms, and in partnership with some sister security agencies, has so far recaptured 10 runaway inmates and taken them into custody.
“There’s still a hot chase to recapture the rest.” He said.
Duza lamented the situation of the facility, saying that the Service was not unaware of the fact that many of its facilities were erected during the colonial era and that they were old and weak. He had however, added that the Service was making frantic efforts for all the aging facilities to give way to modern ones.
“The Service wishes to assure the public that it is on top of the situation and that they should go about their businesses without fear or hindrance.
“The public is also further encouraged to look out for the fleeing inmates and report any suspicious movement to the nearest security agency.”