278 prisoners are still unaccounted for two months after the Borno jailbreak

278 escapees remain unaccounted for two months after the September 10 floods damaged the Borno State jail complex.

According to the PUNCH, in September, Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, had catastrophic floods that destroyed vital infrastructure, including hospitals, bridges, highways, and the medium security correctional center, from which 281 inmates fled for their safety.

The Spokesperson of the Nigeria Correctional Service, Abubakar Umar, who confirmed the missing escapees, said: “The flood brought down the walls of the correctional facilities, including the medium security custodial centre, Maiduguri, as well as the staff quarters in the city.”

He added, “Upon the evacuation of inmates by officers of the service, with support from sister security agencies to a safe and secure facility, 281 inmates were observed to be missing.”

The state police command verified that three fugitives had been arrested following the jailbreak.

Nahum Daso, the state police public relations officer, identified the three re-arrested escapees as Kyari Kur, Abubakar Mohammed, and Auwalu Aminu in separate remarks.

One of the statements read: “Kur was apprehended on October 10 after police at Gubio Divisional Headquarters received credible intelligence about his whereabouts. Daso said that the police acted swiftly and arrested him in Gubio town.”

Another statement read, “The rearrest of Muhammed was facilitated when on September 15, 2024, at about 1500HRS, a resident of Bulakara Ward, Gubio LGA, alerted the police after sighting Abubakar in Gubio town, following his escape from the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Maiduguri. Following a swift response by a police patrol team, the escaped convict was apprehended.”

In a separate statement, the police said, “Auwalu was apprehended on October 16, 2024, by police officers from Bama Area Command/Banki Divisional Headquarters, following a tip-off that Aminu was spotted in Banki town.”

In an interview with The PUNCH in Maiduguri on Monday, Daso said the police were still on intensive search operations to get the remaining escapees.

“Efforts are still ongoing to arrest the other fleeing suspects, and we will ensure that we will keep on highlighting to the public our breakthroughs and achievements,” he said.

According to him, the re-arrested convict had been handed over to the correctional service in the state.

“Not less than four suspects have been re-arrested so far and handed over to the correctional service,” he confirmed.