Wadume: “Why We Released Kidnap Kingpin”- Prison Service

The Nigerian Correctional Services, NCS has confirmed the release of kidnap kingpin Hamisu Bala aka Wadume from prison.

According to James Okoh, the deputy spokesman of the NCC, Wadume was released after spending the seven years jail term as ordered by the court.

The confirmation comes on the heels of reports that the felon received a heroic welcome in his home state Taraba at the weekend following his release from the prison.

Controversy has trailed the release as not a few Nigerians wondered how his jail term ended so soon.

Reacting, the NCS said it deliberately did not make Wadume release public.  “We   didn’t not issue a press statement on his release,’ the spokesman of the Service said on Sunday.

Wadume was arrested by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team, IRT, of Inspector-General of Police, led by Abba Kyari in 2019.

He later escaped when the IRT was taking him to Abuja after some soldiers attacked the Team, killing three policemen in the process.

The soldiers were later quizzed by a joint panel charged with probing the incident.

Two weeks after he escaped, Wadume was traced by security agency to Kano where he had relocated some members of his family. He was later arrested and charged to court.

A Federal High Court in Abuja presided by Justice Binta Nyako had sentenced him to seven years in jail. Wadume was convicted and jailed for escaping from lawful custody and unlawfully dealing in prohibited firearms. But the prosecution failed to prove the charges of kidnapping against him.

Nyako also found Wadume guilty on counts 2 and 10 of the 13 charges preferred against him and six others by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).