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From Tony Osauzo, Benin
Escapee inmates from the two Correctional Centres along Sapele road Benin and Oko in Edo State, were yesterday given up to Friday this week to return voluntarily to the Centres or face the wrath of the law.
This is even as the the Controller of Correction, Edo State Command, Babayo Maisanda, disclosed that1,818 escaped inmates were still at large, while 163 have either been recaptured or secured and six have returned out the initial 1,993 inmates that escaped from the facilities.
Recall that inmates were set free following Monday’s jailbreaks at the two centres by hoodlums in the guise of the EndSARS protest.
The state Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, gave the two-day ultimatum when he went on an assessment tour of the affected NCoS centres and the police stations that were burnt in Benin City by the hoodlums in company with his deputy, Philip Shaibu, a Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Celestine Okoye, the state Commissioner of Police, Johnson Kokumo, representatives of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Federal Road Safety Corps, among others.
The governor who spoke at the end of the on-the-spot assessment, lamented that the extent of destruction was massive, adding that it was against the spirit of the genuine EndSARS protesters that went about their protests in a peaceful manner.
He said the government would not sit down and watch hoodlums operate in such a manner, noting that the attacks on the security facilities were orchestrated by criminally minded people.
Consequently, he warned the escapees to willingly turn themselves in at the Edo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force in Benin City for them to be returned to the Correctional Centres.
“You will agree with me that this is not in the spirit of the EndSARS protest. This is sheer criminality while the real protesters were focusing on the reform of our policing system and not to destroy government property, destroy prisons, and release inmates.
“So, you can tell that there were some criminal intentions behind these acts and the EndSARS protest in Edo was hijacked by criminal and they used the opportunity to come and release their colleagues who were held in our correctional centre.
“We condemn the act wholeheartedly and we expect that even the EndSARS protesters would join us in condemning this dastardly act. The government cannot sit down and fold its arms to allow the breakdown of law and order in our society because everybody would be affected and having undertaken the assessment and seen the extent of destruction that has taken place, we would now move swiftly into action.
“Fortunately, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, understanding the gravity of what has happened in Edo has asked the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Celestine Okoye, to come to Benin to put the situation under control. We are also fortunate that the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces has allowed the military to join the Police in stabilising the situation to bring things under control.
“I want to use this situation to thank the law-abiding citizens of the state for having the presence of mind call while different parts of the state were being attacked in the guise of EndSARS protest. What we have a problem with are hooliganism and sheer brigandage and that we will not accept or tolerate in Edo State.
“We know that some of the inmates may have been released by their plan and others used the opportunity to get out of the facilities. We are using this opportunity to appeal to all inmates in our correctional services who have escaped to come back on their own before the close of business on Friday, this week.
“If they come in and go to the Nigeria Police Force Command headquarters in Benin City, nothing will be done to them. However, those who do not report back after Friday night, we have all their records, we have their biometrics, we would go after them and ensure that we bring them and the appropriate sanction will be meted against them”, the governor said.
Meanwhile, Controller of Correction, Edo State Command, Mr Maisanda, has explained that the Medium Security Correctional Centre in Oko currently has 182 inmates with 28 of them from Farm Centre, while the MSCC, Sapele Road has 15 inmates, adding that
there was an urgent need to further secure and enhance repairs to the damaged facilities to secure the inmates already captured.
“It is pertinent to note that all efforts of securing our facilities for over six hours of the siege were solely by the men and officers of the correctional service.
“Currently, 10 officers who sustained various degrees of life-threatening injury are receiving treatments at various hospitals in Benin City”, the Controller disclosed an expressed appreciation for the concern shown by the governor, Mr Obaseki, and called for his assistance and support to keep the prison system operational.
In his comment, Mr Okoye, a Deputy Inspector-General of Police, said the police was doing its best to arrest some of the hoodlums that attacked the police facilities and the NCoS.
“Some arrests have made, we will still get them. They even tried to enter the police command headquarters but they were repelled. We are doing our best. We will get them, just calm down”, he said.
