A prison official was on Monday killed as
suspected Boko Haram insurgents
attacked the Federal Prison, Ado-Ekiti,
Ekiti State.
No fewer than 20 sniffer dogs were also
slaughtered at the prison yard located on
Afao-Ekiti road during the incident.
The gunmen, numbering over 60,
according to a source, came to the prison
premises in Hilux trucks, wielding
dangerous weapons such as cudgels,
cutlasses, AK 47 rifles, dynamites and
charms as the Minister of Interior, Abba
Moro was on his way to the state.
The source said that the attackers were
chanting ‘Allahu Akbar, Akbar’ as they set
free some inmates during the attack.
Though, journalists were denied access
into the prison yard when they came to
the scene of the incident, blood stains
were seen on the road leading to the
prison, suggesting that some people
might have been seriously wounded in the
attack.
One of the inmates, who was set free
during the attack, returned to the prison
and told newsmen that he ran out when
he heard sporadic shooting at night, but
had to come back.
Addressing journalists at the gate of the
prison, the Comptroller of Prison in the
state, Mr. Fadipe Abolarin Kehinde, who
confirmed the attack, said no casualty
was recorded and that Adeniyi Adedipe,
a.k.a ‘Apase’ was still in their custordy.
A statement aired on the state-owned
radio station had alleged that the action
was carried out by All Progressives
Congress thugs.
According to the statement, the attack
was aimed to set free a murder suspect,
Mr Adeniyi Adedipe, who is being
remanded in the prison custody over the
murder of a former chairman of National
Union of Road Transport Workers
(NURTW), Chief Omolafe Aderiye.
According to the Controller of Prisons,
“We are moving around to assess the
situation. “It was not a jail break but an
attack on the prison.
“The main entrance of the prison was
broken. What happened is that we were
attacked from outside not from within,
they came massively with different
weapons, they attacked our men on duty,
and we have been here since 10.30
yesterday (Sunday).”
On whether inmates were set free during
the attack, Abolarin who did not give a
specific figure of those who escaped said
officers were already out to re-arrest
those that escaped during the attack.
Minister of the Interior, Mr Abba Mooro is
being expected from Abuja.
“We have some that have been recaptured
and kept in police cells.”
Reacting, APC denied any link with the
attack describing it as another ploy by
the PDP to tarnish the image of the APC
in Ekiti State.
The publicity secretary of the party, Chief
Taiwo Olatubosun, who spoke on the
telephone said “what shall we gain for
doing that, we cannot do such things, it
is not in our character to do such things.”
Olatubosun added “Very soon the PDP
and the governor will have to accuse God
for running a clueless government and for
their shortcoming.”
Speaking in an interview on the telephone,
Olatubosun said the government was
talking from the “figment of its
imagination” asking “is it the APC that is
in charge of the prison or the security of
the state? It is the figment of their
imagination that the APC is connected
with the breaking of the prison. We don’t
know anything about it.”
The APC called on the police in the state
to build a strong security around the
prison saying the PDP might be planning
to attack the facility with a view to killing
the suspect and other inmates.
Leadership.
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