Anarchy broke out yesterday in Owerri, Imo State, as thousands of prison inmates from Owerri Correctional Center were freed, after heavily armed hoodlums attacked the facility. Investigations by Vanguard linked the attacks to failure of the authorities to free members of pro-Biafra groups in the correctional facility.
A source claimed there were several warnings, calls, and ultimatum that were ignored by officers of the center to release them.
An eyewitness who spoke said the operation started at about 1a.m. and ended at 3a.m. “These men are heavily sophisticated. They came in their security vehicles and we thought they were army and police. They were shooting everywhere and went straight to the prison,” the source said.
Another source said: “Some days back, we heard of warnings from the Eastern Security Network, ESN, that their members should be freed from that prison or it will be done by force. “They even gave them 14 days to do that. What you are seeing can be the result of not doing that. However, you can see that the freed inmates are not only members of ESN. Non-members also benefited from it.”
A security officer who pleaded anonymity, said the attackers used dynamite and sophisticated guns during the attacks. “Heavy gunshots and explosions could be heard in the area when they arrived with sophisticated weapons, including dynamite and guns.
While some of the inmates in the correctional facility refused to go, others have voluntarily returned,” the security officer said said, “At about 01:00hrs on Monday , armed men suspected to be members of IPOB/ESN in their numbers invaded Owerri Prisons using dynamites and other heavy explosives, gained entrance and released hundreds of the inmates in the prison.
“The hoodlums also attacked the Police Station, Owerri, while firing consistently with AK-47 rifles and explosives, released some suspects detained in the SCID cells and set ablaze many vehicles parked at the headquarters premises, including the SCID office building. The operation lasted close to three hours.”
The Owerri Correctional Center located along Okigwe Road saw different sizes of bags and even religious books as well as writing materials. Clothes of both male and female inmates were seen on the road sides and at the front of the correctional center. Luggage of fleeing inmates were also seen at Wetheral and Assumpta roads and in front of Imo Government House.
The hoodlums used explosives on Imo State Police headquarters, which shares a common perimeter fence with the prisons, destroying some parts of the buildings. Many vehicles parked in the premises were also burnt.
A police officer who said he would not want his name mentioned, said: “They were over two hundred boys in their cars singing a song of victory and when they reached the gate of our Police headquarters, they threw dynamite at us and the thing exploded and the vehicles caught fire.
The hoodlums were also said to have set ablaze military checkpoints along Onitsha Road and the one around Ugwu Orji in Owerri North Local Government Area.
As at press time yesterday, it was learnt that one person died during the attack, while several others sustained injuries.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Correctional Service, NcoS has launched a probe into what led to the release of 1,844 inmates.
Spokesman of the NCoS, CC Francis Enobore in a statement yesterday, explained that the attackers who stormed the facility at about 02:15hrs on Monday, April 5, 2021, gained entrance into the yard by using explosives to blast the administrative block.
The attackers were said to have arrived the center in large numbers with several Hilux pick-up vans and Sienna buses, armed with sophisticated weapons and immediately engaged the security personnel on duty in a fierce gun battle.
“They eventually detonated the explosive to gain entrance,” Enobore stated. He added that the Acting Controller-General of Corrections, John Mrabure, has ordered a comprehensive investigation into the incident, in collaboration with other security organizations, who yesterday commenced a search-and-recover operation to recapture the fleeing inmates.
