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About ten inmates were said to have been killed in a failed jailbreak yesterday at the Kaduna Convict Prisons in Kaduna state, north-central Nigeria when they attempted to escape during the rancor that greeted the prison in early morning hours.
The situation threw the Marafa Estate area of Kaduna town where the prison is located into pandemonium as security agents moved in to quell the riots from within the prison and its surrounding areas.
An eye witness who does not want to be named informed this medium that bullet shells and used teargas canisters littered the entire location of the prison, adding that, the situation was terrible to people living in the area.
According to information obtained indicate that the crisis started as early as 6 am in the morning when the inmates broke loose from the cells and set some parts of the prison ablaze. They were also alleged to have dug holes from their cells in an attempt to escape.
Reports have it that that the inmates attacked the warders and attempted to force their ways out of the building. This was confirmed by one of the prison warders on duty who seek not to be mentioned because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
In his words, "Few minutes to six in the morning, we heard noise from within the yard and to our surprise, we saw the inmates in numbers moving towards the workshop and bringing out dangerous weapons, which they used to attack us. They came from the G-Line of the prisons, which is used in housing robbery suspects.
"The armed guards among us opened fire but were overpowered, they quickly ran outside, while some of us were told by the inmates to change into convict uniform, which we did. They set the admin building, record office and the workshop on fire. Some made for the walls and attempted to escape but were stopped by the guards who were firing from outside," he added.
Prison authorities have, however, denied the huge number of deaths allegedly recorded, saying only two inmates lost their lives in the fracas.
The Comptroller-General of Nigeria Prison Service, Mr. Olushola Ogundipe, blamed the crisis on congestion in the prison, which he said is over stretching the facilities and making the inmates uncomfortable. He however said, the situation had been brought under control.
He said: "Awaiting trial and robbery convicts attempted to break in and escape from Kaduna Prisons. I want to say that the total number of inmates that we have that were opened out this morning was 797. Out of this 797, we have 539 awaiting trial and we have about 139 people awaiting execution, on the death row. So we had a lot of cases of people awaiting trial in the yard most especially robbery suspects.
"So the problem we had today (yesterday) came from the robbery suspects section. By 6.15 am this morning (yesterday), the doors were unlocked when the prisoners opened them and overpowered the guards, went straight into the yard and went straight to the workshop and brought out dangerous weapons, which they used in attacking everybody.
“In the process, buildings were burnt down by the inmates; the admin block and the workshop were also completely razed down. But I want to thank the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police and other security agents in Kaduna for their efforts in bringing the situation under control. This is what we call inter-agency cooperation; they were able to come to our aid to contain the situation. The riot was put down by the combined effort of the police, other security agents and the warders.
"In terms of casualty, inmates died while attempting to escape. If you go round the prison, you will see a hole where they dug and attempted to escape from it. Luckily, students from the training school cordoned off the place and there was no single escape. No prisoner escaped. Not a single prisoner escaped. But we lost two inmates and 39 were injured with various degrees of injuries.
"Some members of staff were also injured, with serious ones among them taken to the hospital. I also want to thank the Kaduna State Government, and to say that immediately the incident occur-red, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) came to our rescue, Kaduna State Government brought in doctors and you can see ambulances all over evacuating those who are injured to the hospital.
"The situation is now calm, and all inmates have been taken back to their cells and further investigation is being carried out on the remote and immediate causes of the incident.
"Capacity of Kaduna prison is 524, but this morning, we opened out 797 and out of this number, we have 539 awaiting trial. So congestion of the awaiting trial section is a big problem for us, and we all know the problem we are having with the judiciary, some courts are on strike, so that is what is exacerbating the problem."
When the condemned convicts' fence was broken, none of them came out, none of the condemned convicts joined in the crisis despite the fact that their cells were broken. These are people that were on the death row, they are still praying that may be the Governor will commute their sentences to life, they did not join the riot. It is only the awaiting trial and robbery suspects that carried out the riot,” he concluded.
About ten inmates were said to have been killed in a failed jailbreak yesterday at the Kaduna Convict Prisons in Kaduna state, north-central Nigeria when they attempted to escape during the rancor that greeted the prison in early morning hours.
The situation threw the Marafa Estate area of Kaduna town where the prison is located into pandemonium as security agents moved in to quell the riots from within the prison and its surrounding areas.
An eye witness who does not want to be named informed this medium that bullet shells and used teargas canisters littered the entire location of the prison, adding that, the situation was terrible to people living in the area.
According to information obtained indicate that the crisis started as early as 6 am in the morning when the inmates broke loose from the cells and set some parts of the prison ablaze. They were also alleged to have dug holes from their cells in an attempt to escape.
Reports have it that that the inmates attacked the warders and attempted to force their ways out of the building. This was confirmed by one of the prison warders on duty who seek not to be mentioned because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
In his words, "Few minutes to six in the morning, we heard noise from within the yard and to our surprise, we saw the inmates in numbers moving towards the workshop and bringing out dangerous weapons, which they used to attack us. They came from the G-Line of the prisons, which is used in housing robbery suspects.
"The armed guards among us opened fire but were overpowered, they quickly ran outside, while some of us were told by the inmates to change into convict uniform, which we did. They set the admin building, record office and the workshop on fire. Some made for the walls and attempted to escape but were stopped by the guards who were firing from outside," he added.
Prison authorities have, however, denied the huge number of deaths allegedly recorded, saying only two inmates lost their lives in the fracas.
The Comptroller-General of Nigeria Prison Service, Mr. Olushola Ogundipe, blamed the crisis on congestion in the prison, which he said is over stretching the facilities and making the inmates uncomfortable. He however said, the situation had been brought under control.
He said: "Awaiting trial and robbery convicts attempted to break in and escape from Kaduna Prisons. I want to say that the total number of inmates that we have that were opened out this morning was 797. Out of this 797, we have 539 awaiting trial and we have about 139 people awaiting execution, on the death row. So we had a lot of cases of people awaiting trial in the yard most especially robbery suspects.
"So the problem we had today (yesterday) came from the robbery suspects section. By 6.15 am this morning (yesterday), the doors were unlocked when the prisoners opened them and overpowered the guards, went straight into the yard and went straight to the workshop and brought out dangerous weapons, which they used in attacking everybody.
“In the process, buildings were burnt down by the inmates; the admin block and the workshop were also completely razed down. But I want to thank the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police and other security agents in Kaduna for their efforts in bringing the situation under control. This is what we call inter-agency cooperation; they were able to come to our aid to contain the situation. The riot was put down by the combined effort of the police, other security agents and the warders.
"In terms of casualty, inmates died while attempting to escape. If you go round the prison, you will see a hole where they dug and attempted to escape from it. Luckily, students from the training school cordoned off the place and there was no single escape. No prisoner escaped. Not a single prisoner escaped. But we lost two inmates and 39 were injured with various degrees of injuries.
"Some members of staff were also injured, with serious ones among them taken to the hospital. I also want to thank the Kaduna State Government, and to say that immediately the incident occur-red, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) came to our rescue, Kaduna State Government brought in doctors and you can see ambulances all over evacuating those who are injured to the hospital.
"The situation is now calm, and all inmates have been taken back to their cells and further investigation is being carried out on the remote and immediate causes of the incident.
"Capacity of Kaduna prison is 524, but this morning, we opened out 797 and out of this number, we have 539 awaiting trial. So congestion of the awaiting trial section is a big problem for us, and we all know the problem we are having with the judiciary, some courts are on strike, so that is what is exacerbating the problem."
When the condemned convicts' fence was broken, none of them came out, none of the condemned convicts joined in the crisis despite the fact that their cells were broken. These are people that were on the death row, they are still praying that may be the Governor will commute their sentences to life, they did not join the riot. It is only the awaiting trial and robbery suspects that carried out the riot,” he concluded.
