The Senate leadership vented their anger on the management of Kuje Medium Security Custodian Centre as the aftermath of terrorists’ violent attack on the facility Thursday last week was. TAIYE ODEWALE reports
History of Kuje Prison
The Kuje Medium Security Custodian Centre as boldly written on the entrance wall of the prison was established on the 14th of August 1989 and has been serving as required detention and correctional facility for both awaiting trials and already convicted inmates mostly from courts of law in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT, Abuja).
Though jail attacks or jailbreaks have been happening across the country within the last two years but such has never happened in Kuje before the Tuesday night incidence which led to escape of over 800 inmates among whom were 64 terrorists of Boko Haram extraction.
Flurry of reactions on the attack
Expectedly on Wednesday hours after the attack, the Comptroller – General of Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS), Haliru Nababa, visited the overrun prison and was on ground to receive and brief other top government functionaries that went there for on the spot assessment.
President Buhari’s visitation
Among those received and briefed by the CG, NCS, was President Muhammadu Buhari who visited the overrun correctional centre on Wednesday afternoon while on his way to the Airport for a trip to Dakar.
President Buhari at the end of his on the spot assessment of the damaged facility, blamed it on failure of intelligence.
“This is very unfortunate and a clear sign of intelligence failure among the various security outfits.
“The criminals who have escaped from here must be brought back here and the entire facility re-fortified”, he said.
Senate’s leadership visitation
Twenty four hours after President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Kuje Prison, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, his Deputy, Ovie Omo – Agege and Principal officers, made on the spot assessment to the scene of the attack by terrorists.
Disturbed by the wanton destruction carried out by the terrorists, the President of the Senate and the other Senators subjected the Comptroller General Nigeria Correctional Centre (NCC) to serious interrogation which made them to know that the facility has no Close Circuit Camera (CCTV) and other necessary tracking gadgets.
They described the attack as very disappointing and failure of security system, wondering how 300 ISWAP operatives accessed the premises of correctional centre on foot, forced their ways into the various cells and released over 800 targeted inmates for over an hour without any counter offensive from security personnel on ground.
“This is unacceptable and will not be condoned. For CCTV and other relevant tracking gadgets not to be functional, are highly disturbing and dangerous for the security of inmates and residents of the Federal Capital Territory .
“The way the operation was even carried out based on inspection made by us, strongly indicate insiders’ connivance which must be critically looked into”, said the Senate President.
From barrage of questions fired at the Comptroller – General of Nigerian Correctional Service ( NCS), Haliru Nababa, 51 security officers were said to be on ground as at the time of the attack.
The 51 security operatives as submitted by CG NCS, got overwhelmed by the 300 attackers armed with AK 47 and Improvised Explosives Device (IEDs).
“Our men and other security operatives like the Army and Police, gave the attackers the required counter offensive which made them to suffer casualty of about four terrorists”, he said.
Irked by his submission, the Deputy President of the Senate, said killing four out of 300 is nothing to write home about.
“I’m personally disturbed by this your submission. Killing just four terrorists out of 300 is nothing to me.
“This type of poor response to heinous crime of this nature is not deterring in anyway because they can attack again”, he stressed.
Speaking to journalists on the attack the President of the Senate said: “The attack on this correctional facility is symptomatic of the failure of security. The attack is only a culmination of the failures at hand as far as security situations in the country are concerned.
“We were told that an estimated 300 terrorists attacked this facility. They came on foot, and I believe they should have been detected.
“In the first place, three hundred people will not come for an operation like this without planning. Planning must have taken a week, a month or a bit more.
“I believe that our security agencies should have picked this from their tracking systems in the FCT.
“Secondly, having gone round the facility itself, we are disappointed that this facility does not have Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras, something that would record and give you details of what is happening and sometimes record the events.
“This is a medium security custodian center, how on earth in the FCT facility of this magnitude we don’t have CCTV? It means we can say that all other medium security centers across the country do not have CCTV.
“We have asked the Comptroller General of Correctional Centre to ensure that the request for CCTV at the maximum and medium custodian centres of the country are included in their 2023 budget because this is essential and indispensable.
“Now, as this facility lacks a functional CCTV, there’s no record of what happened, except narration. But if we had CCTV, at least the records would have been there and analysis made, and arrest will be based on the information from the CCTV.
“Thirdly, going from one cell to another to release people, specifically, those that are known to be insurgents, tells a lot of story.
“It may not be far away from an insider job, someone who is either working in this place or must have worked here.
“I think we have to look deeper into what happened, so that we find the culprits, because when things like this happens, then there should be sanctions.
“Where people fail to do their job properly, and they have been given that responsibility, they should be asked to take responsibility.
“If people don’t take responsibility for their failure, then it means nobody would bother to do what is expected of their office or the job that the person has been given.
“Having this kind of situation today in the FCT, that we have criminals who are free now all over the city is very dangerous and you can never have peace of mind.
“The FCT has the seat of government, and today that seat is not safe. So, we have to do whatever it takes to get everybody back.”
Post mortem review at committee level
Apparently, worried by revelations gotten from on the spot assessment made on the attacked correctional centre and unsatisfactory submissions given by the Comptroller – General, the Senate leadership, pointedly declared that its committee on Interior and other security related ones, will summon the CG and other relevant authorities for post mortem review of the incidences and required way out.
“There should be an end to all these issues of jailbreak or outright attacks”, they stressed.
Whether there will be end to the issues of jailbreaks or attacks after all the planned postmortem reviews or not, is in the womb of time.