Two months after a devastating flood in Borno State led to the collapse of a correctional facility, 278 inmates remain unaccounted for.
The incident, which took place on September 10, severely impacted the Maiduguri medium security custodial centre, allowing 281 prisoners to escape as floodwaters tore through the structure.
Abubakar Umar, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Correctional Service, confirmed that 278 of the escapees are still missing, noting the scale of the damage caused by the flood, which also destroyed essential infrastructure in the region, including roads, bridges, and staff quarters.
“The flood destroyed the walls of the custodial centre in Maiduguri, and during the evacuation of inmates, 281 were found to be missing,” Umar explained.
He added that security agencies had worked together to relocate the inmates to safer facilities.
Since the jailbreak, the Borno State Police Command has managed to re-arrest three of the escaped convicts.
Police Public Relations Officer, Nahum Daso, provided updates on their capture, identifying the individuals as Auwalu Aminu, Abubakar Mohammed, and Kyari Kur.
In a statement, Daso said that Kyari Kur was apprehended on October 10 after police received credible information about his whereabouts in Gubio town.
Another escapee, Abubakar Mohammed, was caught after a resident tipped off authorities on September 15 when he was spotted in Gubio.
Auwalu Aminu was arrested on October 16 following a tip-off in Banki town, where he was located by officers from the Bama Area Command.
Despite these successes, Daso confirmed that 278 inmates are still at large, and police are continuing their search operations to track down the remaining fugitives.
“We are still actively pursuing the other escapees. Our search efforts are ongoing, and we will continue to update the public on our progress.” Daso said in an interview.
The police spokesperson also assured that the re-arrested suspects were handed over to the correctional services.
“So far, four suspects have been re-arrested and transferred back to the correctional service,” he added.
