Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has stated that the Federal Government had fortified security in all correctional centres in the country before the recent attack on the facility in the nation’s capital.
He said this in a statement on Thursday by his media adviser, Sola Fasure, in reaction to the attack on the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kuje, Abuja.
Aregbesola stated that the government had taken the initiative to beef up security at the correctional centres at a time when the country witnessed incessant jailbreaks, including the facility in Oyo State.
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“After the Abolongo, Oyo State, attack on a correctional facility in October last year, it became apparent that a new form of attack for which our system was not prepared for had emerged,” the statement said.
“Our system was primed to prevent and foil internal disturbance and riots, not external attacks/invasion since the facilities were usually built around police and military formations. The minister then directed that the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) urgently works with other security agencies to fortify all correctional centres in the country and insulate them against future attacks, among other measures introduced.
“This was carried out as well-armed soldiers, police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) officers were drafted to our facilities nationwide, to secure them against further attacks. Several but unsuccessful attempts were made to attack our facilities since then, as the armed guards repelled them on each occasion.”
