Sporadic gunfire caused
pandemonium at Kuje Prison, Abuja,
on Monday, following a riot by some
inmates, who resisted the attempt by
prison officials to search their cells
for banned items.
It was gathered that security
operatives fired gunshots and tear
gas canisters into the atmosphere
just to restore law and order and
control the rioters. There were
shocking discoveries.
This happened 11 days after a
similar incident in Abakaliki Prison,
Ebonyi State, that led to the death of
six inmates and injuries to four
prison warders.
The Monday riot in Kuje prison
occurred two months after two
inmates, standing trial for culpable
homicide, escaped from the Prison
on June 25. The fleeing inmates have
yet to be re-arrested.
Sources in the prison said the violent
protest was brought under control by
the Prison’s armed squad supported
by soldiers providing additional
security cover for the formation.
The incident, it was learnt, caused
panic among residents of Kuje
community, who had thought that the
prison was under attack by
terrorists.
The Controller of Prisons, FCT
Command, Daniel Odharo, in a
statement, confirmed the crisis at the
prison but said there was no injury
or escape by inmates.
Odharo said, “At about 1000hrs on
Monday, staff of Kuje Prison carried
out a routine cell-search which is a
part of the prisons operational
guidelines to prevent the breach of
security within and around the
prisons.
“Some inmates tried to resist the
exercise, which led to an altercation
between the search party and the
inmates. This was quickly put under
effective control. No prisoner was
injured, no property damaged and
the yard is calm and peaceful.”
Investigations by Punch indicated
that the violence was instigated by
convicts, who refused to allow
warders to carry out a search on
their cells for prohibited items.
It was gathered from a reliable
source that during the search, 25
mobile sets were recovered from a
suspected Boko Haram inmate.
The source said, “The incident
happened this morning. The warders
who were acting on instructions
from the prison authorities, decided
to search the cells and seize
prohibited items.
“During search, they found 25
handsets with a Boko Haram suspect.
After a search of the convicts’ cells,
they moved to the awaiting-trial
cells.
“But those men, who saw the
warders approaching with some
‘already’ seized items, decided to
resist them. They attacked the
warders with stones and every object
they could lay their hands on, and in
the process, many of the warders
were injured.”
It was gathered that after a search,
some substances, suspected to be
cannabis, were also uncovered in
some cells and confiscated.
VIP inmates resist search
It was said gathered that the
convicts, who were kept in a block
called ‘VIP’, were allowed to enjoy
certain privileges not permitted by
the prison rules and regulations.
Sources stated that against prison
rules, awaiting trial inmates were
allowed to stay in the VIP block as it
was more comfortable.
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