ABUJA, April 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than 1,800 inmates have escaped after heavily armed gunmen attacked a prison in southwest Nigeria, correctional authorities said.
The attackers used explosives to blast their way into the Owerri prison in Imo state, engaging guards in a gun battle, the corrections comptroller general’s office said in a statement.
“I can confirm that the Imo State command of the Nigerian Correctional Service was attacked by unknown gunmen in Owerri,” corrections service spokesman James Madugba said without giving an exact number of escaped inmates. “The situation is under control.”
“The situation is under control,” he said.
The assailants arrived in pickup trucks and buses before storming the facility, the correction authority statement said.
A police spokesperson said the attackers carried rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, explosives and rifles.
President Muhammadu Buhari called the attack an “act of terrorism” carried out by “anarchists”. He called upon security forces to capture the attackers and the escaped prisoners.
Imo state is part of a region that has long been a hotbed for separatist groups and where tensions between federal authorities and the indigenous Igbo population are often high.
Since January several police stations and vehicles across south-eastern Nigeria have been attacked and large amounts of ammunition stolen. No-one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has recently been posting videos on social media of dozens of its militiamen in training.
But IPOB spokesman Emmanuel Powerful rejected any involvement in the prison attack in a statement, dismissing any accusations as “lies”. — NNN-AGENCIES