Kill anyone attempting to breach prisons, Aregbesola orders

Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, yesterday, ordered officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) to shoot any persons attempting to attack prison facilities across the country.

He gave the directive while addressing senior officers at the Agodi Custodial Centre of the NCoS, during an inspection tour of the facility.

Anyone attempting to attack correctional facilities should not be alive to tell the story, Aregbesola said. Officers must make it impossible for any assault to penetrate the facility. Such must remain an attempt, the minister maintained.

He described attacks on custodial centres as unacceptable, saying they must stop forthwith, and must be resisted fiercely.

“The most important thing is the impregnability of this facility. This is a red zone, a dangerous zone. Whoever attempts to breach the facility is already dead. He must not live to tell the story. Any effort to breach our facility is not acceptable. Don’t shoot to injure but shoot to kill. This is a total embodiment of the state, to guarantee security of the people,” he said.

He assured the officers that government would do its best to ensure their welfare is accorded top priority, to achieve effective service delivery.

He also commended the officers for not recording any case of COVID-19 at the facility.

You must be effective in preventing penetration of this facility. You must have the capacity to repel, viciously, any attempt to attack or invade this facility, and an attempt must remain an attempt,” he said.

Aregbesola further ordered the demolition of shops and business centres within and around the facility.