Owerri – Barely 24 hours after they were freed in a jailbreak, inmates at the Imo State Headquarters of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) in Owerri, are already beginning to return back to the facility, Authorities said on Monday.
In the early hours of Monday, gunmen well-armed had invaded the Owerri Correctional Centre in the Imo State capital.
The attackers also razed down the Imo State Police Command headquarters situated in Owerri and burnt almost all the vehicles parked at the command headquarters, freeing the suspects in almost all the cells at the State Criminal Investigation Department of the command.
They gunmen were said to have sung solidarity songs at the Government House Roundabout for about 30 minutes before attacking the facilities, a security source said.
On breaking into the prison facility with the aid of explosives and dynamite, the attackers told the inmates, “Go home, Jesus has risen. You have no reason to be here.”
But the Public Relations Officer, Nigeria Correctional Services Imo State Command, James Madugba, who confirmed that one thousand eight hundred prison inmates were freed during the jailbreak, said the inmates are coming back.
“The Owerri custodian centre was attacked at about 2:15 am in the early hours of today by unidentified gunmen with sophisticated weapons,” Madugba told TNC correspondent.
“The security men on guard were overpowered due to the arms and ammunition that the attackers were carrying.
“However, some inmates have started returning to the facility willingly.”
