Kuje Prison riot: B’Haram prisoner caught with 25 phones

Controller-General of Prisons, Dr. Peter Ekpendu

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 to restore law and order and control the rioters.

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 occurred two months after two inmates, standing trial for culpable homicide, escaped from the Kuje 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 armed squad of the Nigerian Prisons Service supported by soldiers providing additional security cover for the formation.

One of our correspondents gathered from a reliable source in the prison that during the search, 25 mobile sets were recovered from a suspected Boko Haram inmate.

The source stated, “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 the 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.

In addition, the Controller-General of Prisons, Ahmed Ja’afaru, had also approved the dismissal of seven junior prison officers serving in Kuje Prison and 10 other junior staff serving in Koton Karfe prison, who were also implicated in the jailbreaks.