From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The Imo State custodial centre of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) has confirmed that a total of 1,800 inmates are still at large following an attack of the centre by gunmen in the early hours on Monday.
The custodial centre also disclosed that only six inmates have so far been rearrested.
The gunmen who struck on Monday morning had also attacked the Imo State Police Command, setting part of its offices on fire, freeing all the detainees at the State Criminal Investigations Department and making away with their ammunition.
The spokesman of the custodial centre, James Madugba, speaking with Daily Sun, said that the gunmen, besides freeing the inmates, also destroyed records that profiled all prisoners.
According to him, the gunmen destroyed the Closed Circuit Television of the centre during the attack.
Madugba said that only six inmates have been rearrested by the Command and that a total of 42 inmates are currently in their centre.
‘About 1,800 inmates are at large as we speak. We have been able to rearrest six inmates. If you add the number to what we have at the centre, we have about 42 inmates in our custody,’ the prison spokesman said.
‘The gunmen destroyed the CCTV of the centre and burnt the prison’s records, but all hope is not lost. With the era of ICT, we will be relying on the ICT to retrieve the information of the fleeing inmates and go after them.’