The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has confirmed a total of 837 inmates awaiting trial escaped from its Medium Security Custodial Centre in Abolongo, Oyo State.
In a statement by its spokesman,Olanrewaju Anjorin, on Saturday, the correctional service added that 262 escapees have been recaptured.
He explained that yet to be identified gunmen attacked the custodial centre at about 9:30pm on Friday, adding that some of them have returned.
“A total of 262 of the escapees have been recaptured, leaving 575 still at large,” said Anjorin.
“Following the directives of the Controller-General of Corrections, Haliru Nababa mni, the State Controller, Noel Ailewon, has commenced the process of search and recapture after visiting the scene of the incident.
“He assured that no effort will be spared to recapture the fleeing inmates, even as he solicited for credible intelligence to aid security agencies in tracking down the fugitives.”
The custodial centre in Oyo town was established in 2007 with a capacity of 160 inmates. But at the time of the attack, a total of 907 inmates were in custody.
Of this figure, 837 people are awaiting trial, representing 92 per cent of the total population of inmates there while 64 are convicts.
The invaders were said to have arrived at the custodial centre heavily armed with sophisticated weapons.
They later gained entry into the yard using dynamite to blast the wall of the facility, following a fierce encounter with officers on guard,
While all the awaiting trial detainees were forced out of custody, the cells housing the convicts and the female inmates were not vandalised.
