Expert faults detention of terrorists in Kuje prison

As criticisms continue to trail the security and intelligence lapses that led to the attack on Kuje Correctional Centre Abuja, security consultant, Chidi Umeje, has faulted the detention of terrorists in the medium security facility.

Chidi, who spoke on a national television programme monitored in Lagos, yesterday, said the freed terrorists who were the main reason for the attack should have been kept in a maximum prison.

He expressed his bitterness at the level of audacity shown by the terrorists during the attack even as he condemned the inefficiency on the part of security agencies in responding promptly to the attack.

“It is a terrible thing what we have just seen. This particular breach on Kuje prison is one too many. The most concerning issue to worry about is the fact that we are hearing that high risk individuals are kept in medium security facilities such as Kuje. So as far as I’m concerned, there is no rigours or thought put into place in terms of how do we forestall recurrence of security fractions in our holding facilities.”

Umeje said high risk criminals such as terrorist and bandits should be kept in maximum security prisons because of their capacity to carry out sophisticated attacks like the one carried out in Kuje.

He said the attack called for decisive action and improved intelligence gathering on the part of the government and security agencies rather than wailing.

 He said security issues ravaging the country can only be resolved through robust intelligence and coordination between all the intelligence assets in the country given the sophistication of terrorists.

 “We are dealing with asymmetric issues, we are dealing with guys who can spring up from nowhere, they don’t have uniforms, there is no clear demarcation. So what do you do? It has to be done through robust intelligence, it has to be done through coordinated synergy between all the intelligence assets that we have in the country.  We have the DSS, NIA, military intelligence and all manner of agencies, including the police.”

He called for communal intelligence and urged citizens to relay security concerns to relevant agencies for swift actions to be taken.

He also called on president Buhari to ensure that officials responsible are made to pay for this attack on Kuje prison, what he tagged as an ‘embarrassment to the nation’. (Daily Sun)