- Attackers’ audacity shocks Mr President
- 64 Boko Haram suspects on the loose
- ISWAP claims responsibility
- Abba Kyari, Dariye, Nyame, others safe
BY EDMOND ODOK – It is worrisome but absolutely true that President Muhammadu Buhari is shocked and disappointed with the failure of intelligence that led to Tuesday night’s successful raid on the Kuje Correctional Centre by suspected Boko Haram terrorists.
A completely dumbfounded President Buhari could not hold back himself asking questions in torrent: “How did the defences at the prison fail to prevent the attack? How many inmates were in the facility? How many of them can you account for?”
Not yet done, the President continued; “How many personnel did you have on duty? How many of them were armed? Were there guards on the watchtower? What did they do? Does the CCTV work?”
President Buhari, who spoke to reporters after inspecting some of the points impacted by the terror attack, pointedly expressed disappointment with the intelligence system, saying; “I am disappointed with the intelligence system. How can terrorists organise, have weapons, attack a security installation and get away with it?”
Expressing his desire to firmly addressed the unfortunate development, the President, accompanied by Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha and Chief of Staff Prof Ibrahim Gambari, demanded that “a comprehensive report” on the incident be forwarded to his office by all relevant and concerned authorities.
At the Correctional Centre, the President was briefed by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Interior, Dr Shuaib Belgore and the Controller General of Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa who showed the Presidential team the bombed-out section and the records office that was set ablaze by the invaders.
Dr Belgore, who disclosed that the terror group launched an attack on all cells in which Boko Haram terrorists were held, also informed the President that all the 64 terrorists are now on the loose and can not be accounted for by the Prison’s authorities.
However, he said there are backup records on the fleeing suspected Boko Haram commanders and men currently among the 416 inmates still at large, adding that four inmates and an operative of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were killed in the deadly attack.
Further giving an account of how the terrorists invaded the facility, the Permanent Secretary said the assailants came determined as they fought security operatives for over 30 minutes.
According to him, reinforcement was called but the terrorists escaped before support arrived to calm the situation.
Making his intervention on the ugly incident, Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi, said the attack pattern pointed to Boko Haram insurgents, adding that they came in large numbers and attacked the facility at about 10.25 pm.
General Magashi, who claimed that all security personnel within the facility responded in equal measure to the attackers, said: “From the records, they belong to a particular group – the Boko Haram insurgent group. And all of them inside the facility have escaped.”
But speaking in a television interview last night, former Minister of Interior, Lt.-Gen Abdulrahaman Dambazau disclosed that many of the Boko Haram commanders in the facility have been there for about 10 years, noting that available information indicates the men were undergoing deradicalisation being coordinated by the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA).
General Dambazau however insisted that people must be held accountable for the attack, accusing security agencies of working at cross purposes instead of striking robust partnership to tackle and address the growing insecurity in the country.
The former Minister said that since there was an intelligence report of an impending attack on the facility, it should have been foiled and those involved in the negligence of duty must be made answerable to the obvious security breach.
Meanwhile, a statement by the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS)’s spokesperson, Mr Abubakar Umar, said the Centre has a capacity of about 940 inmates, but 994 inmates were in the facility when the terrorists struck.
He said 443 of those that escaped from confinement have been recaptured, bringing the number of inmates in the facility to 578, while the 64 suspected Boko Haram members are still on the run making it 416 inmates unaccounted for.
Notable personalities currently in the facility include former Plateau State Governor Joshua Dariye and his Taraba State counterpart Jolly Nyame, who have been granted state pardon, suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, and convicted pension thief, Abdulrasheed Maina and former House of Representative member, Farouk Lawan.
The statement by Umar said; “The attackers broke into the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kuje using explosive devices through the main entrance and the fence of the facility respectively, killing personnel of the NSCDC attached to the Custodial Centre and leaving three personnel of the Nigerian Correctional Service seriously injured.
“Four inmates died and 16 inmates sustained various degrees of injuries and are being treated. Efforts are ongoing to recapture all fleeing inmates”, adding that Kyari and other VIPs did not escape as “They are presently in custody, hale and hearty.”
He explained that there were 38 military personnel on the ground during the attack, in addition to policemen, men of the Department of State Services (DSS) and armed prison staff, adding that; “Some of the attackers were killed while some escaped with gunshot wounds.
On efforts at recapturing the fleeing inmates, the NCoS’ Spokesperson said; “We, therefore, appeal to hospitals and other medical institutions and practitioners to report anyone that comes to them for treatment for gunshot injuries to the nearest law enforcement agency.”
ISWAP Claims Responsibility In Video Clip
Already claiming responsibility for the daring attack, the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), the breakaway terror group from Boko Haram, released a video clip showing its members shooting their way into the custodial centre with little or no resistance from the security agencies.
Marching in groups with vehicles and buildings on fire in the 38-second footage, an elderly man dressed in native attire also joined the young men who were shouting at the top of their voices.
The video, released by Islamic State’s A’maq Agency, is captioned in the Arabic language: “Fighters of Islamic State attacked Kuje prison in Abuja yesterday (Tuesday) and succeeded in freeing dozens of prisoners”.
