HEAVILY armed men, suspected to be members of Boko Haram insurgent, on Saturday, invaded a medium facility of the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS), in Minna, the Niger State capital, and freed about 30 inmates.
The incident occurred between 4. 30 p.m. and 4.45 p.m., when the armed men, numbering about 15, forcefully gained entry into the prison and engaged the five prison guards on duty in a gun duel.
Sunday Tribune further gathered that at the end of the gun battle, which lasted for between five and 10 minutes, the gunmen allegedly succeeded in freeing the said inmates.
It was further learnt that after the attack, three prison guards sustained various degrees of injury.
They were said to have been placed on admission at the emergency section of an undisclosed public hospital in Minna, while a man, whose identity was not immediately known, was shot dead by the rampaging gunmen.
An eye witness account informed the Sunday Tribune that the armed men, after allegedly freeing the prison inmates, escorted them to a nearby bush and asked them to remove their uniforms and run for dear life.
The source, who craved for anonymity, disclosed further that the armed men later snatched a Honda car from its owner and escaped in it.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer, Niger State Command of the Nigeria Prisons Service Mr Rabiu Shuaibu Mohammed, confirmed the incident, but said it was an attempted jailbreak.
He added that the authorities of the State Prisons Command had solicited the assistance of other security agencies in the state to bring the situation under control.
Also, in his reaction the Police Public Relation Officer, Niger State Police Command, Mr. Ibrahim Abiodun Gambari, while confirming the incidence said some arrests had been made in connection with the incident.
He added that the police had recovered a Toyota Siena space bus in which the gunmen were trying to escape with, stressing that about six of the inmates set free by the gunmen had also been arrested by the police.
“We also recovered six rifles and a riot gun, including live ammunition inside the Siena Space bus, but the prisons authorities could not yet ascertain the exact number of inmates that escaped from the prison custody until they check their records,” said Gambari.
Meanwhile, a detachment of military, the police and men of the State Security Service has been deployed to the area while all residents of the community hosting the prison have been directed to stay indoor until further notice in order not to fall victim of stray bullets from the opposing camps.
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