As Nigerians struggle to recover from the shock of the daring attack on the facility of the Nigeria Correctional Services in Kuje Abuja, the implications of such embarrassing attacks on the country’s image cannot be wished away.
On July 5, 2022, news of a possible attack on the Kuje prison filtered in with residents of the area frantically sending distress calls for police and other security agencies’ intervention.
Dare-devil terrorists had hit the prison and more than half of the inmates in the facility were nowhere to be found, including 64 high profile Boko-Haram terrorists.
Twenty-four hours after the incident, the Islamist terror group, Islamic State of West Africa Province, ISWAP, claimed responsibility for the attack and released a video to buttress their claim.
A statement by the Public Relations Officer of the Service, Mr Abubakar Umar, disclosed that a total of 879 inmates escaped from the facility, while four inmates died during the attack.
As at the time of this report, 551 inmates are currently in custody, while 443 others are still at large.
The Kuje prison attack, is the 11th in the series of prison attacks recorded across the country since 2020.
A timeline of prison breaks in the past two years indicates that two correctional facilities in Oko and Benin, both in Edo state, where attacked on October 19, 2020 during the #EndSARS protests.
Subsequent attacks on NCoS facility in Okitipupa was carried out on October 22, 2020 when hoodlums hijacked the #EndSARS protest in Ondo state.
An attempt at the Ikoyi facility in Lagos was foiled by correctional officers and soldiers. During the #EndSARS protest. Some prisoners were shot while others tried to breach the gate of the prison.
Another attack was foiled at the Afara Umuahia Correctional Centre on October 22, 2020, when a combined team of the Nigerian Army, police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the armed unit of the Nigerian Correctional Centre, repelled an attempted jailbreak.
Gunmen again attacked a correctional facility in Owerri, Imo state on April 5, 2021 and the sane month, security agents foiled an attempted jail break by inmates of Kurmawa Prison located within the Emir’s Palace in Kano.
On July 8, 2021, some inmates of the Jos correctional facility escaped while armed men attacked the prison facility in Kabba, Kogi on September 13, 2021.
A month later, the Abolongo Custodial Centre in Oyo was attacked on October 22, 2021 then again on November 28, 2021 another attack was carried out on the medium security custodial centre.
These attacks do not only just show the porosity of our state of our holding centres, but also make a joke of our security network and mode of intelligence gathering and sharing among security agencies.
The attack on the ill-fated Abuja- Kaduna train which took place on March 28, 2022, further goes to buttress this point.
Despite the warning of an imminent attack on the train, the Nigerian security operatives failed to be proactive and this led to the train been attacked by a group of terrorists later identified as members of the ISWAP.
Eight persons lost their live in the attack, while over a hundred passengers were kidnapped. Few weeks after the train attack, the attackers released a video, claiming ownership of the attack and at same time demanding that the Federal Government release their commanders who have been under detention by the authorities in exchange for the train victims.
In the aftermath of the Kuje prison break, where it was confirmed that 64 terror suspects were among those released, it is only a matter of time before ISWAP, who have now released their commanders, and still have in their possession the kidnapped train victims, to have the bargaining chip in their favour.
Already, families of the seven kidnapped victims released couple of days after the prison attack, claim to have parted with as much as N100 million each to secure their release. Clearly the terrorists have now resorted to getting much money in ransom for their victims since they now have their comrades.
It remains to be seen how the federal government would assist the remaining families of victims in either rescuing their loved ones or raising the ransom for them.
With over three weeks since the Kuje prison break, we are yet to see a strong reaction from the government of President Muhammadu Buhari either in holding those responsible for the security of the correctional facility, or those whose duties it is to provide the intelligence but failed at their duties.
Though it is on record that the president has a culture of allowing ineptitude and dereliction of duties by officials and appointees to go unpunished, nevertheless, we are obligated to remind Mr. President, that it is his primary responsibility to ensure security of lives and properties of citizens as enshrined in the constitution and anyone appointed by him to help carry out this task must be held accountable for their continuous failure in carrying out their duties and such persons must be shown the way out for more competent hands to come on board.
As it is, the Nigerian business space is not particularly faring well in global community as multinational companies like Etisalat, InterContinental Hotel Group, United Airlines Tiger Brand International, among several others have been exiting Nigeria in the last seven years.
Oil conglomerates like ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, are also selling their assets and leaving Nigeria. Though the reason for the oil companies leaving is to move towards cleaner energy, their exit may not be totally unrelated to the growing security threats being witnessed across the country.
These companies exist are coming at a time when unemployment rate has more than quadrupled over the last five year. A World Bank report estimates that about 19 million Nigerians entered the labour force in the past five years, with 300,000 youths coming into the labour market every month.
With reports of banditry and terrorists’ attacks across the length and breadth of the country, the government has a lot to do to make the country attractive and safe enough for investors.
