Posted by By HENRY CHUKWURAH, Port Harcourt and FEMI FOLARANMI,Yenagoa on
Three days after the Port Harcourt Prisons was attacked by suspected cultists, leading to the release of their detained colleagues and over 100 other inmates, the Ahoada Prisons, also in Rivers State, has been attacked.
Three days after the Port Harcourt Prisons was attacked by suspected cultists, leading to the release of their detained colleagues and over 100 other inmates, the Ahoada Prisons, also in Rivers State, has been attacked.
This is coming at a time the Federal Government has set up a high-powered panel to probe the jail break incident in Port Harcourt. This is even as soldiers and mobile policemen have taken over major streets in Port Harcourt.
Confirming the attack on Ahoada Prisons, Rivers State Controller of Prison, Mr. I.A Akombo, said however, that the attempt was foiled.
"It was a little skirmish that our men put under control immediately. There were skirmishes. A few men wanted to cause trouble, but they did not succeed," he said.
Daily Sun gathered that the panel probing the successful attack on Port Harcourt Prisons is made up of high ranking prison officials. Mr. Akombo has been directed to give a detailed account of the incident to the panel.
Some of the escapee prisoners, Daily Sun gathered, have been rearrested. But Mr. Solomon George, said to be the second-in-command to Mr. Ateke Tom at the Niger Delta Vigilance Group, who also escaped, is still at large.
On the number of those who escaped, the prison controller said he was taking stock. "We are still taking stock. As you can see, I am very busy. It is at the end of it all that we would state exactly who is there and who is not there and the extent of damage. For now, I cannot say more."
Meanwhile, the Port Harcourt Prison has been cordoned off by soldiers and policemen, who are also on guard at strategic locations in the city.
In a related development, uneasy calm pervades parts of Bayelsa State as news filtered into the state that eight of the suspected Odi killers currently standing trial and remanded in PortHarcourt prisons were among the inmates that escaped during Friday night's jail break.
This was revealed when the case of the suspects came up for mention Monday, at the High Court 2, Yenagoa.
Counsel to some of the suspects, Barrister Jude Rex- Ogbuku, who confirmed the escape of his clients, explained that the jail break was not at the instance of his clients.
"This matter of jail break was not at the instance of our client. They only cashed in on an opportunity to save their lives as they did not know those who came to the prison with sophisticated weapons. The government should just assumed they are hiding".
He however said if indeed they had decided to escape, this "is sad," adding that as a counsel in the matter if "your client escapes it worsens the matter" because that is an offence on its own.
"We are seeking to prove their innocence and their running away now puts you in a difficult situation. Escaping from custody is an offence on its own," he added
Rex- Ogbuku, who is the Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Yenagoa branch, noted that the different cases of jail break in Rivers and Delta states is an indication that Nigeria's security system is porous.