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Who is sponsoring attacks on correctional centres?

By Inwalomhe Donald
19 December 2021   |   3:36 am
Sir: OF late, there had been series of attacks on military, police and correctional centres facilities. The gory attacks on police stations and other government institutions are launched to strike fear and embarrass President Buhari.

Sir: Of late, there had been series of attacks on military, police and correctional centres facilities. The gory attacks on police stations and other government institutions are launched to strike fear and embarrass President Buhari. There have been more attacks on military and police facilities than correctional centres. The military and police provide security for our correctional centres across Nigeria.

I was attacked recently in Ore, Ondo State when two men were discussing the jailbreak in Oyo State when I attempted to listen to their discussion. I want to appeal to President Buhari to as matter of urgency direct the police to interrogate seriously those that have been arrested in connection with carrying out attacks on correctional centres to know the mode of their recruitment and funding of gunmen that are attacking correctional centres. Jailbreaks have become booming business in Nigeria. It is time for President Buhari to dig deep into those who are financing jailbreak in Nigeria. Most of the jailbreaks are politically motivated because there are high profile criminals there. Attacks on correctional centres have become an act of terrorism. Within a year, Correctional Centres in Edo, Kogi, Imo, Oyo and other states have been successfully attacked by unknown gunmen. The government at all levels must not allow this ugly trend to continue.

President Buhari must act now because it appears that the attacks against correctional centres is a tactics to release hardened criminals that will later be deployed to attack Nigerian state. President Buhari must develop the capacity of the criminal justice and law enforcement officials to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate jailbreak financing through the provision of specialised training on issues related to special investigation techniques, freezing, seizing and confiscating gunmen assets, and strengthening regional and international cooperation against the financing of jailbreak.

In 2021 alone, more than 2,000 inmates were freed in two earlier jailbreaks: on September 13 when 240 inmates were freed after gunmen attacked a detention facility in north-central of Kogi State with explosives and on April 5 when at least 1,800 were freed in the southeast of Imo State when another facility was also blown up.

Even though the recent jailbreaks in the country seem to have no connection to each other, all of them have been carried out using explosives. Authorities succeeded in re-arresting some escaped inmates, others reportedly returned willingly. A handful of such attacks took place last year as well, with many raising alarm about the safety of detention facilities in the West African nation.

With jailbreaks becoming more frequent recently, it has become a booming business that President Buhari must investigate to know those that are sponsoring attacks on correctional centres across Nigeria. The time to act is now.

• Inwalomhe Donald writes via inwalomhe.donald@yahoo.com

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