Ekiti prison inmates escape in yet another jailbreak

Scores of inmates escaped from the Ado-Ekiti federal prison, Ekiti state, on Sunday night.

Kehinde Fadipe, the controller of the prison,  who confirmed the attack said the attackers used dynamite to break the main entrance to the prison.

Ope Fatinikun, the spokesman of the Nigerian prison service, earlier told TheCable that the actual situation was not clear.

Fatinikun said the attack took place around 10pm on Sunday, adding that he would make the findings of his inquiries public.

“I am on my way there to find out what really happened,” he had said.

But he subsequently confirmed the jailbreak to TheCable, saying: “I can confirm that there was an attack on the prison at about 10pm on Sunday.

“We are still taking stock. There are about 435 inmates at the prison. We are still taking stock to ascertain the number of those who escaped. However, some of them were recaptured.”

This is the third prison break in less than two months.

On October 10, two inmates were killed during an attempted jailbreak at Kirikiri Medium Prison, Lagos, but Abba Moro, the minister of interior, denied that there was any jailbreak attempt, saying the inmates only protested against unfavourable conditions.

However, 144 out of the 145 inmates at the Koton-Karfi Prison in Kogi state escaped after an invasion by gunmen on November 2.

Nine of them were later arrested, according to Adam Omale, the state controller of prisons.