228 inmates escape as Kogi prison collapses

The Koton Karfe Custodial Centre, in Kogi, has collapsed under heavy flooding, loading to escape of 228 inmates.

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS), Mr. Jafar Ahmed, who confirmed this while speaking with newsmen, in Koton Kafe, on Monday, said that the flood came at about 3 a.m., submerging the perimeter fence and the walls of two cells.

He said that there were 228 inmates at the centre at the time of the incident.

Ahmed said that the prison was not habitable at present, saying that the re-arrested inmates were being transferred to other prison facilities in the state.

He said that details of the incident will be made public later.

Also speaking, the Security Adviser to the state governor, retired Commodore Jerry Omadara confirmed that over 100 of the inmates had been re-arrested.

According to him, some of the inmates returned on their own, some reported themselves at nearby police stations while a combined team of policemen, army, navy and civil defence corps arrested others.

Omodara said that the state government was informed of the incident at about 4 a.m., adding that Gov. Yahaya Bello immediately directed the head of security agencies in the state to deploy their personnel to the scene.

He said that 228 inmates escaped, saying that many of them escaped for the safety of their lives.

He said that security agents were still combing the bush to re-arrest some of the fleeing inmates, saying that the flood was not making it easy for them to escape.

He commended the security agencies for their prompt intervention, saying that nobody died in the incident. (NAN)