The Nigerian Correctional Service has arrested 421 inmates who fled its facility in Kuje Abuja, while 454 others are still on the run.
This figure is according to the House of Representatives Committee on Correctional Service.
The committee also said it had summoned the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola; and Comptroller-General of the NCOs, Haliru Nababa, to appear before it over the recent attack on the Kuje Custodial Centre.
The Commander of the Nigerian Army Platoon on duty on the night of the attack was invited too.
Chairman of the committee on Correctional Service, Edwin Anayo, who disclosed this during an oversight visit to the facility on Thursday, said the lawmakers met 115 inmates.
“If you subtract it, it will give about 879 that escaped that night,” he noted.
Anayo decried that 12 other Custodial Centres had been attacked across the country recently. He said the recent jailbreaks by gunmen leading to the release of inmates are worrisome.
He said, “We are summoning the CG and the minister in charge of this agency to come to the National Assembly and explain to the whole world and Nigerians what is going on. We are not comfortable with the incidences of jailbreaks in recent times. There have been about 10 to 12 attacks on custodial centers. Nigerians are not comfortable. In Abuja, nobody walks freely now because of this incident. We have to interact and know the problem, and how we can solve it.”
