It’s attempt to eliminate Kanu, IPOB alleges

From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja and Perpetua Egesimba

For several hours yesterday, officials of Kuje Prisons and imnates enagaged in a shoot out in a botched jailbreak attempt.
It took the superior firepower of security agents guardung the prison to over power the inmates, Daily Sun gathered. Thereafter, Controller of Prisons, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, Daniel Odaro said nobody was hurt and no inmate escaped.
The Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) also confirmed there was another attempted jailbreak at Kuje Medium Prison in early hours of yesterday, which led to sporadic shooting by the security personnel attached to the prisons but said the situation was quickly brought under control.
Also, Public Relations Officer of the FCT Command, Chukwuedo Humphrey, the Controller of Prisons FCT Command, Odharo admitted there was ‘a minor fracas’ between prison officials  and the inmates and also, shed more light on the incident.
“At about 10:00hours on Monday, August 29, 2016, staff of Kuje Prison carried out a routine cell-search which is a part of the Prisons operational guidelines to prevent breach of security within and around the prisons.
“Some inmates tried to resist the exercise which led to an altercation between the search party and the inmates. This was quickly put under effective control. No prisoner was injured, no property damaged and the yard is calm and peaceful.”  Although the new Controller-General of Prison, CGP Ahmed Ja’afaru had ruled out sabotage on recurrent jailbreak, incidences of jailbreaks have increased recently with cases recorded in Koton Karfe prison in Kogi State, Nsukka in Enugu State and Abakaliki in Ebonyi State, among others.
While two homicide inmate escaped from the Kuje jailbreak during the first incident, 13 inmates escaped from Koton Karfe prison, more than 15 inmates escaped from the Federal Prisons in Nsukka while no fewer than five inmates were killed and 10 wounded during the exchange of fire at the Abakaliki Prison.


It’s attempt to eliminate Kanu, IPOB alleges

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has alleged that the gunshots and release of teargas at the Kuje Medium Security Prison was “a calculated attempt to kill its leader, Nnamdi Kanu,” who has been in detention in the prison even after two courts had granted him bail.
A statement by the Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Mr. Emma Powerful, said Kanu’s life was threatened throught the release of teargas and some people who allegedly “shot in the direction of his room for him to die systematically…
“Some people went in search of some prison inmates very far from where Kanu and two others were kept, but, all of a sudden, they started shooting bullets in the direction where our leader was kept and teargas was thrown inside the room where he stayed.
“We are calling on the international community, the United Nations (UN) the African Union (AU) lovers of freedom, Amnesty International (AI), human rights watch, non governmental organisations (NGOs) and other well-meaning Nigerians, who understand the meaning of self determination, to come to our rescue because, right now, we don’t know the condition of our leader in the prison,” the group said in a statement distributed to newsmen in Abuja, yesterday.