Jos Custodial Centre Officers Recover Six Corpses from Prison Attack Site

Seriki Adinoyi

No fewer than six bodies have been recovered by officials of the Jos Custodial Centre (JCC) after it came under attack on Sunday by gunmen who stormed the facility in large number with sophisticated weapons.

It is, however, not clear if the bodies are those of the gunmen who attacked the facility or inmates who attempted to escape.

One JCC officer was killed and another shot in the arm in the attack.

The front office holding the records of the JCC was set alight by the invaders.

As at Monday morning, the custodial centre was still trying to ascertain the extent of damage to the facility, take head counts of the inmates and positively identify the bodies to be sure if or not the invaders are among the dead.

Meanwhile, the Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, has condemned the attack, describing it as unfortunate.

The governor however praised the gallantry of officers and men of the custodial centre who rose to the occasion to thwart the plans of the criminals whose mission was to facilitate the escape of inmates and also cause destruction to the facility.

In a statement, Lalong praised the quick reaction of other security agencies including the police, Operation Safe Haven, Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Operation Rainbow which responded swiftly to the situation and took charge of the general area leading to the entrapment of the assailants as well as arrest of fleeing inmates.

While describing the sad event as one too many in the nation’s correctional system, Lalong said it was high time a wholistic approach was applied in bringing such attacks and jail breaks to an end in order to guarantee the safety of inmates, correctional officers and the larger society from criminals who choose to attack the very essence of Nigeria’s legal system by disrupting law and order.

He directed an immediate boosting of security measures around all custodial facilities in the state, assuring the people that the state government will work with the federal government in every way possible to ensure that all correctional facilities in the state are protected from such attacks.

He said that the government will continue to make Plateau unconducive for criminals by sustaining the proactive measures adopted against all criminal enterprises.