Abba Kyari moved out of Kuje prisons after terrorist attack

The suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, has been reportedly moved out of Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

It was learned that Kyari was moved out of the prisons hours after terrorists invaded the facility late on Tuesday to free some of their members.

It was also gathered that most of the violent criminals and terrorists in the facility were also released by the terrorists into the FCT.

However, many high-profile inmates were said to have stayed back during the Tuesday night attack, which lasted about three hours.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Correctional Service has confirmed the attack on its facility in the Kuje area council of the Federal Capital Territory.

The spokesman to the service, Umar Abubakar while reacting to the incident said an armed squad of the service in collaboration with other security agencies responded to the attack.

Abubakar in a statement released in the early hours of Wednesday said calm had been returned to the area.

In a chat with Peoples Gazette, a correctional officer, who wanted to remain anonymous, said inmates like Abba Kyari, Farouk Lawan and other prominent detainees are still in the facility.

Kyari, who was remanded in the prison earlier this year, is standing trial for allegedly dealing in cocaine alongside four members of his former police unit and two other persons arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu.

The attacks, which lasted some hours, were said to have been resisted by military personnel and prison guards on duty.

Sources said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari and his men who were in the facility may have escaped from the facility.

Gunmen bombarded the facility with bombs and explosives on Tuesday night.
Former Plateau Governor Joshua Dariye and his Taraba counterpart Jolly Nyame who had been granted pardon by the National Council of States were also in the facility.

The Federal Government was yet to effect their release as of the time of the attacks.

Sources within the facility confided in The Nation that besides the high profile inmates, some terrorists and other criminals might have escaped in the thickness of the darkness and the gunfire from the attackers.

However, as of the time of filing this report, there was no official confirmation on the number of escapees and their profiles.

A source told our Correspondent it would be difficult to confirm if Kyari and his men were evacuated for safety before the attackers gained entrance into the facility.

He also said same applied to the former Governors.

The Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Francis Enobore and his FCT junior officer, Mr Humphrey Chukwuendo, could not be reached. Their mobiles were on switched off.

The Kuje Medium Custodial Centre came under heavy bombardments by terrorists on Tuesday night

The attacks, which caught the guards at facility unawares, threw the entire area into confusion.

It was learnt the first explosion, a high capacity bomb, went off around 10.25 pm.

Some accounts said It was followed by second and third blasts as well as sporadic gunshots which left the residents scampering into safety.

Security reports had alerted officials of the possible attacks on the facility.

It could not be ascertained if steps were taken by to prevent the attacks as of the time of filing this report. (The Nation)