Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola
By JOY ADARA, Abuja –
The Federal Government has said that over 3,000 inmates are yet to be recaptured following recent jailbreaks in the country in the past one year
Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola disclosed this on Thursday while addressing newsmen at a media briefing organised by the Presidential Media Team at the State House in Abuja.
Mr. Aregbesola revealed that a total of 4,860 inmates had escaped during attacks on the country’s custodial centers since last year, and only 984 of them have been rearrested so far, with 3,876 inmates still at large.
To aid the active tracking of the fleeing inmates, the minister said the government had taken the biometrics of all inmates in the country, hoping this will be useful for their recapture.
In recent months, there have been a series of gunmen attacks across Nigeria, including attacks on security facilities like police stations and custodial centers.
On Oct. 22, 837 inmates awaiting trial escaped from the Medium Security Custodial Center in the Abolongo area of the southwestern state of Oyo following an attack on the center, according to a statement by the Nigerian Correctional Service.
Aregbesola said that the country currently has a total of 69,680 inmates, with 50,223 still awaiting trials.
