Abologo: Iskilu Wakili, Kidnap Kingpin, Escape; 446 inmates Rearrested says Aregbesola

By Uche Mbah

Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, Sunday said  446 out of 907 escapees in the Abologo correctional facility in Oyo State have been recaptured.

During an inspection visit to the facility in Oyo town, Oyo State, Sunday, Aregbesola called the attack unconscionable.

“I’m assuring Nigerians that the Federal Government will pursue not just those who attcked our facility, but those who have escaped lawful custody.

“The attack was unconscionable, I commend officers of the Nigeria Correctional Service and other members of sister security agencies who provided perimeter security for our facility for fighting gallantly and holding the fort before the attackers were able to gain access to the awaiting trial section of the facility.

“However, those who escaped are already being pursued. Some have been rearrested, many more will still be captured,” he said.

There are rumors that the attack was engineered to spring the release of a terrorist kingpin,  Iskilu Wakilu, who was in the facility at the time of the attack. He is among those missing.

The Minister confirmed that 446 out of 907 escapees have been recaptured while 69 never left the facility.

“As at the last count, 446 of the escapees have been recaptured, leaving 392 still at large. We want to assure Nigerians that the service has an updated database of the escapees which includes their biometrics. We are sharing the database with all security agencies in the country including Interpol, so those who escape our recapture efforts can be nabbed.

“To those on the run, be assured you have nowhere to hide. You can run, but you can’t hide. We’ll fish you out! We are publishing details of those who escaped in the mass media so the public can assist in that effort,” the Minister said.

The Minister said he had directed the NCOs to immediately begin remediation work.

“I have instructed the CG of NCOs to immediately begin the reconstruction of the damaged parts of the building. We hope to make the facility better secured and more habitable for the inmates.”

In his own words, the Controller General of the Nigeria Correctional Service, NCS, Haliru Nababa, said they are collaborating with other security agencies to bring back the escapees.

“The NCOs have so far prevented internal jailbreaks in the country. What we have reoccurring in recent times are external attacks on our facilities. We have been retraining our officers not just on securing those in lawful custody but preventing external attacks.

“We are collaborating with other security agencies in the country to make such attacks near impossible and where they do occur, the attackers will live to regret it,” the CG said, adding that remediation work has already started.

“As you can see, workers are already on-site, fixing damaged doors, broken windows, and mounting walls. Before the end of today, work would have been completed on it,” Nababa stated.