228 Prison inmates have escaped from Koton Karfe custodial centre after the building collapsed due to flooding.
Mr, Jafar Ahmed, who is the General of the Nigerian Correctional Service confirmed that the flood came at about 3 a.m., submerging the perimeter fence and the walls of two cells.He made this known while speaking with newsmen in Koton Kafe.
Ahmed said He said that there were 228 inmates at the centre at the time of the incident. the prison was not habitable at present, saying that the re-arrested inmates were being transferred to other prison facilities in the state. He said that details of the incident will be made public later.
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Retired Commodre Jerry Omadara, who is the Security Adviser to the State Governor confirmed that over 100 of the inmates had been re-arrested. According to him, some of the inmates returned on their own, some reported themselves at nearby police stations while a combined team of policemen, army, navy and civil defense corps arrested others.
Omodara said that the state government was informed of the incident at about 4 a.m., adding that Gov. Yahaya Bello immediately directed the head of security agencies in the state to deploy their personnel to the scene. He said that 228 inmates escaped, saying that many of them escaped for the safety of their lives.
He went on to say that security agents were still combing the bush to re-arrest some of the fleeing inmates, saying that the flood was not making it easy for them to escape.