Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
A total of 286 out of the 1,900 inmates who escaped from the Oko Medium Correctional Centre and Sapele Road Correctional Centre in the wake of #EndSARS protest in Benin City, capital of Edo State have returned.
While 25 voluntarily returned to the correctional centres one week after the jailbreak, 38 were re-arrested by the police in different parts of the state after committing various offences following their escape while 187 returned on their own few days ago.
As it stands, a total of 286 inmates out of the 1,900 inmates that escaped are back to the correctional centres.
A source from the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) in Benin City, who would not want his name in print said that the police and prison officials had since mounted a manhunt for the escapees.
He said that the manhunt became necessary following the expiration of the one week ultimatum for the fleeing inmates to return, which was later extended by another one week.
The source noted that the authorities were determined to bring back the runaway prisoners and bring them back to justice
According to the anonymous source, “We have a way of arresting runaway prisoners. We have swung into action following the expiration of the two week ultimatum by the governor. The earlier they return on their own, the better. Those who are re-arrested will be retried and sentenced to extra seven years if convicted. It is in their own interest to return even with the expiration of the ultimatum.”
He said that the NCS authorities had been monitoring the movement of escapee prisoners as a result of series of information on their whereabouts in the determination to arrest the escapees and bring them to justice.
