HURIWA demands Aregbesola, sack over jailbreaks

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, on Thursday, said Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, must be sacked with immediate effect over his consistent failure to stop attacks on prisons in the country.

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement issued on Thursday, said it is distasteful and condemnable that over 15 jailbreaks have occurred under Aregbesola in the last five years while over 3,000 inmates have escaped.

The group also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop asking rhetorical questions on social media on how the intelligence system of the country failed to detect Tuesday attack at Kuje prison in Abuja.

HURIWA said the President should immediately set up judicial panel of inquiry on prison breaks in Nigeria and ensure that such assaults on the entire security apparatus of Nigeria do not recur.

Terrorists had attacked the Kuje Correctional Centre on Tuesday evening, bombed the prison, killed some security agents and inmates while they set over 600 prisoners free including 64 Boko Haram suspects.

According to media reports, soldiers deployed to Kuje vicinity and the Correctional Center’s environment, who had mastered the terrain, were redeployed 24 hours before the dastard attack.

In fact, Tukur Mamu, a media aide to controversial Islamic cleric and bandit-sympathiser and negotiator, Ahmad Gumi, said the Kuje prison attackers were members of the Ansaru terrorist group who launched attack and kidnapped scores of passengers in Abuja-Kaduna bound train on March 28.

Reacting, HURIWA said: “The spate of jailbreaks under President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, is alarming and condemnable. Even under then President Goodluck Jonathan who had no military experience or background, jailbreaks weren’t as rampant as what Nigerians see these days.

“The frequent and recurring jailbreaks show the inefficiency of all those President Buhari appointed into office and his unwillingness to sack them show also that the President tacitly want the situation to continue to fester.

“HURIWA demands the arrest of the persons who gave order purportedly for withdrawal of soldiers before the attack. HURIWA also demands the sacking of the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola; and his Defence counterpart, Bashir Magashi; for perpetual incompetence. We also call for a broad-based judicial panel of inquiry on prison breaks in Nigeria to be constituted.”