Photos show aftermath of Niger prison collapse that allowed 119 inmates to escape following rainstorm

Photos have been released to show the aftermath of the prison that collapsed in Niger State after a heavy downpour.

119 inmates escaped from the prison after a rainstorm damaged sections of the facility (see here).

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on Thursday, April 25, paid a visit to the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre in Niger State, following the jailbreak on Wednesday night, April 24.

The spokesman for the Federal Capital Territory command of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Samson Duza, said 119 inmates initially escaped but 14 of them were later recaptured by the security forces. 

Meanwhile, during his visit, the Minister said the Federal Government may relocate many jails from city centres because of the growing urbanisation in the country.

The minister, Tunji-Ojo said, “The President has always talked about urbanisation eating into our correctional centres. 

“You can look at the environment; it shows that we need to relocate a lot of our correctional centres and we need to relocate them away from city centres to create better space, security, and infrastructure. 

“But as we have said, we are not here to make excuses. We are here to take responsibility. I want to assure you that we are talking to our sister agencies to make sure that we can synergize, collaborate, and ensure that there is a timely return of these escapees.

“This was a facility that was built to house 250 inmates. Before the incident, we had 499 inmates, which leads us to what we have been talking about -overcrowding in our correctional centres.”

He further highlighted the urgent need for reforms in the over 240 custodial centres nationwide.