No resident in Kuje expected that as the sun in the area council dropped over the hazy horizon and twilight slithered over the sky to usher in the night, gunshots and explosions would throw them into panic and interrupt their sleep. The Kuje correctional facility, situated in the federal capital territory (FCT) was attacked on Tuesday night and many inmates — including “all Boko Haram suspects” — escaped. Bashir Magashi, minister of defence, said the attackers are members of the Boko Haram who came to free their comrades who were detained in the facility. “The people who came to do this for the records belong to a particular group. From all indicators, they are Boko Haram,” he said on Wednesday. “Currently, there are about 64 of them as inmates and we could not locate them.” Abubakar Umar, Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) spokesperson, said a total of 879 inmates escaped and that security operatives have recaptured 443 of them. ‘ATTACKERS CAME IN FROM MANY ROUTES’ Emmanuel Abiodun, a resident of Kuje, told TheCable they began hearing “heavy gunshots” around 10:15pm, followed by explosions that lasted more than two hours. Abiodun, whose home is a fence away from the prison, said gunfire was heard from all the adjoining streets that lead to the prison. Amid the panic, Abiodun and his siblings raced to the lavatory and laid face down in fear. “It was around 10:15 at night when we started hearing gunshots,” he said. “Before then, a friend of mine, who was accompanying a colleague of his down to the junction, said he saw some strange people that were just hanging around. “He returned home and after a few minutes, we started hearing gunshots. The gunshots were so rapid. Even in the house where I stay — the room shares a fence with the prison — we were just hearing bomb blasts and gunshots continuously. “The operation lasted like three hours. There was no intervention, we were so scared. We were wondering if some of those we heard running will jump into our compound. “They were clearly terrorists. They kept chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’, and saying: ‘we have gained victory’ in Hausa language. “They were bombing everywhere with explosives; it was shaking the room and the whole ground. We were so scared. The sound was so intense that it was like the blast was happening behind my room. They were chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’, gyrating and marching.” ‘I THOUGHT IT WAS A ROBBERY’ A woman, who chose to be unnamed, said she had just finished her night prayer when she heard the “heavy gunshots”. “My house is closer to the prison, but we didn’t know that it was inside the prison that the blast was taking place. We thought it was a robbery attack,” she said. She added that repeated calls to the police hotline that night caused her phone to shut down. “They didn’t come because their base was far,” she said. According to her, residents were afraid to come out of their houses on Wednesday morning, because they were still worried about their safety. ‘GRENADES WERE USED TO BREAK THE WALLS’ An army officer at the facility told TheCable that 30 soldiers were deployed to the prison facility less than 24 hours before the attackers arrived. He said, according to practice, soldiers guarding the facility are always redeployed every month and that his batch had yet to be familiarised with the area before the attackers struck. The soldier, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to TheCable, said the attackers raided the facility with general-purpose machine guns (GMP). “Our guns do not match their own. They used grenades and other explosives to bomb the building where the inmates were kept,” he added.

  The Kuje prison in Abuja was attacked on Tuesday by the terrorists who bombed the Abuja-Kaduna train on March 28 in order to set their members free, credible sources told the Daily Trust Wednesday. One of the sources said the terrorists attacked the facility and freed their high profile members because their plan to use the abducted passengers of the Abuja-Kaduna train in exchange for their members was not yielding any result as the federal government was adamant. He said the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre was brought down using explosive devices that gave them easy access. The source said in addition to the request for the release of their young children by the federal government in exchange for the Kaduna bound train captives, the terrorists, loyal to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), also demanded the release of some terrorists held in Kuje and some facilities. “They discovered that their demands would not be met and therefore, they set out for full scale war,” he said. He said they were also planning to attack the Special Tactical Squad (STS), formerly the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) headquarters in Abuja which they attacked in 2012. ‘Intelligence ignored’ Another source said vital intelligence provided by relevant agencies was ignored by those that matter, a development that gave the terrorists unfettered access to the Kuje facility around 10.30pm. Apart from warders at the Kuje prison, there was a task force comprising the military, police, SSS and civil defence guarding the place because high profile criminals were kept there, he said. “Sadly there are moles everywhere and therefore, even though the security operatives were alerted, the terrorists had their way,” he said. “And that is why they perpetrated the nefarious act with precision. Some of them distracted attention of the security operatives by detonating many explosives outside the facility after destroying the main entrance, which gave a different group task with the responsibility of bringing out their members unfettered access. “Those that gained access went straight to the cells where the Boko Haram members were incarcerated and set them free…There was no serious resistance,” he said. The invaders reportedly used dynamites and destroyed the heavily fortified facility, including the Central Terrorism Unit (CTU), freeing all the terrorists there. “Those freed would definitely unsettle Nigeria’s security architecture; they would disrupt peace unless something is done. “And as you can see, the VIP section was not compromised because those incarcerated there were not their targets,” he said. Another source said, “The attack at night was deliberate because they know we don’t have the capacity to resist invasion at night. “They shepherded their members overnight and disappeared,” he said. ‘2 police operatives nabbed’ Daily Trust gathered that two police officers have been arrested after their communication with some of the escapees was intercepted. “Two of the terrorists that escaped called a police investigation officer (IPO) in one of our stations and spoke to him in a compromising manner…They are now being investigated to know their level of complicity,” he said. Other attacks loom It was learnt that the terrorists were planning a deliberate and massive attack on the military detention facility in Kainji as well as the prisons in Bida and Minna. “What they want to achieve is to set free members of the terrorist organisation who are detained in those facilities. “They are planning to do this on Sallah day and unless something is done, it will come to pass,” he said. I shared intelligence with govt – Negotiator Mallam Tukur Mamu, a Kaduna-based newspaper publisher who has played an intermediary role with the train attackers said they hinted about the Tuesday night jailbreak. He made the claim Wednesday in a statement issued to journalists in Kaduna. Mamu said he had shared intelligence reports with authorities concerned but they allegedly failed to act on the information. The publisher frowned at the failure of the government to respond to the group’s threat. “I can confirm without doubt that the Kuje Correctional Centre attack was executed and coordinated by the same group that attacked the Abuja-Kaduna bound train because they gave indications of imminent attacks to that effect which I shared. “For the records, they requested for the release of 51 of their members. But through the power of dialogue and engagement, I was able to single-handedly scaled that number to only 10 and communicated with audio backing the development to the relevant authorities. “There was an unnecessary delay on giving them even a precise feedback by the government and now they have not only succeeded in carrying out another successful attack that indicts the nature of our intelligence and capacity to respond promptly but have also succeeded in releasing dozens of their members, which would have been averted if actions has been taken to give them only 10 and secure the release of the train victims,” Mamu said. “In all this risky, painful and frustrating engagement, which government is yet to acknowledge and appreciate, I have more than 100 documented audios that I shared with the relevant authorities. For the purpose of this important press release and to authenticate my claims, I will also share four of the latest audios,” he said. ISWAP claims attack, releases video ISWAP Wednesday night claimed responsibility for the jailbreak. The group had previously claimed responsibility for attacks on police and other facilities in nearby areas of Suleja and Kogi State. In a statement posted on the Islamic State media channel, Amaq, the group stated: “Islamic State fighters invaded a government prison in Kuje, a suburb of Abuja, the Nigerian capital, where they destroyed the perimeter fence and successfully freed tens of prisoners, yesterday”. The IS media platform later released a 33-second video with the sound of explosives and heavy gunshots. The attackers were jubilating and chanting Allahu Akbar. Part of the video showed raging fire-consuming vehicles and parts of the building. However, the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) said that only four inmates were killed, 16 injured, while 443 escaped

  Inmates held at Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja are threatening a deadly riot after officials claimed a large chunk of money kept for the prisoners had been carted away by Boko Haram insurgents who breached the facility on Tuesday night, two sources with information have informed Peoples Gazette. The money had been kept with at least five prison officials, including those manning the commissary, for several months, officials said. “One prison guard told 13 inmates this afternoon that all the money they kept with him had been stolen,” an official said. “He bluntly told them that the N26 million is no longer in his possession.” The prison, about 43 kilometres southwest of downtown Abuja, was breached at about 10:00 p.m. by suspected Boko Haram insurgents. While some detainees refused to take advantage of the jailbreak, all prisoners affiliated with Boko Haram escaped, according to defence minister Bashir Magashi. As the president departed the scene, prisoners began shouting that they’d lost money during the raid, while some threatened violence should officials fail to return their cash. “Yes, that is the problem we’re confronting now,” an official said when asked for corroboration Wednesday evening. “Some people lost money in naira while some lost in dollars.” The official said the money belong to wealthy individuals inside the prison. “It’s those big men that are more enraged because they kept millions with the warders,” the official said. “About N82 million was declared missing and four people are looking for $36,000.” “We don’t know what the prison management will do about the matter because the money was not kept with the warders officially,” our source added. The officials spoke under anonymity because they did not receive permission to comment on internal prison disputes.