Two months after Borno jailbreak, 278 convicts still missing

Two months after the damage to the correctional facility in Borno State, following the September 10 flooding, 278 escapees are still missing.

The PUNCH had reported that Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, witnessed severe flooding in September, which led to the destruction of critical infrastructure, including roads, bridges, hospitals and the medium security custodial centre, where a total of 281 prisoners fled for their safety.

The Spokesperson of the Nigeria Correctional Service, Abubakar Umar, who confirmed the missing escapees, said: “The flood brought down the walls of the correctional facilities, including the medium security custodial centre, Maiduguri, as well as the staff quarters in the city.”

He added, “Upon the evacuation of inmates by officers of the service, with support from sister security agencies to a safe and secure facility, 281 inmates were observed to be missing.”

After the jailbreak, the state police command confirmed the arrest of three escapees.

In separate statements, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Nahum Daso, revealed the three re-arrested escapees as Auwalu Aminu, Abubakar Mohammed and Kyari Kur.

One of the statements read: “Kur was apprehended on October 10 after police at Gubio Divisional Headquarters received credible intelligence about his whereabouts. Daso said that the police acted swiftly and arrested him in Gubio town.”

Another statement read, “The rearrest of Muhammed was facilitated when on September 15, 2024, at about 1500HRS, a resident of Bulakara Ward, Gubio LGA, alerted the police after sighting Abubakar in Gubio town, following his escape from the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Maiduguri. Following a swift response by a police patrol team, the escaped convict was apprehended.”

In a separate statement, the police said, “Auwalu was apprehended on October 16, 2024, by police officers from Bama Area Command/Banki Divisional Headquarters, following a tip-off that Aminu was spotted in Banki town.”

In an interview with The PUNCH in Maiduguri on Monday, Daso said the police were still on intensive search operations to get the remaining escapees.

“Efforts are still ongoing to arrest the other fleeing suspects, and we will ensure that we will keep on highlighting to the public our breakthroughs and achievements,” he said.

According to him, the re-arrested convict had been handed over to the correctional service in the state.

“Not less than four suspects have been re-arrested so far and handed over to the correctional service,” he confirmed.