At least 3, 360 inmates that escaped from the Benin, Oko, and Owerri custodial centres have remained at large, months after hoodlums attacked the holding facilities, an investigation by New Telegraph has revealed. It was learnt that a total of 321 of those that escaped from the centres, had been recaptured at different locations. In the wake of the #End- SARS protest across the country, gunmen had carried out simultaneous attacks on the Benin and Oko custodial centres in Edo State, setting free about 1, 993 inmates.

Six months after – precisely on Monday April 5 – the Owerri holding facility was hit in a similar manner, resulting in the escape of over 1, 800 inmates. Authorities had noted that most of the escapees were either condemned inmates (awaiting execution), or convicts serving various sentences. Highly-placed security sources, who spoke in confidence with this newspaper, said coordinated efforts were on, to ensure that all the escapees were recaptured, and returned to the respective custodial centres.

The Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), had made the identities of the fleeing inmates public, to facilitate their isolation and subsequent arrest. “We are working roundthe- clock to recapture all the inmates that are still at large, and I can assure members of the public that security operatives will not rest until the last fugitive is rearrested,” one of the sources said. Another senior official, who spoke in a similar vein, said: “As long as these prisoners remain at large, lives and properties of law-abiding members of the public are in serious danger, hence the urgent need to track, isolate and arrest them.

“I can tell you that as of last week 1,138 fleeing inmates from Oko custodial centre were still at large, while 107 had been recaptured and safely returned. “For Benin, I can tell you authoritatively that 517 of the escaped inmates remain at large, while 38 others have been rearrested. “176 from Owerri centre have been returned, the remaining is 1,705”. As of the time of filing this report, spokesperson for the NCoS, Mr. Francis Enobore, a Comptroller of Correction, had yet to reply to a message sent to his phone.

(Courtesy, New Telegraph)

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