President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed disappointment with the intelligence system at the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre, Abuja.
metrowatchonline reports that terrorists on Tuesday night attacked the prison facility, freeing hundreds of inmates, among them fellow terrorists.
Buhari visited the scene of the attack on Wednesday and was received by the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Baba Alkali, paramilitary service chiefs among other top government officials.
At the scene of the attack, a visibly angry President Buhari was quoted as saying, “I am disappointed with the intelligence system. How can terrorists organize, have weapons, attack a security installation and get away with it?.
“How did the defences at the prison fail to prevent the attack? How many inmates were in the facility? How many of them can you account for? How many personnel did you have on duty? How many of them were armed? Were there guards on the watchtower? What did they do? Does the CCTV work?.”
Meanwhile, Buhari was briefed about the attack by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Dr. Shuaib Mohammad Lamido Belgore and the Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Haliru Nababa.
The president was showed the bombed-out section used to access the prison, and the records office which was set on fire, where the invaders thereafter launched an attack on all cells in which Boko Haram terrorists were held.
The President was told that, at the end of it, none of the 63 terrorists are accounted for, but that records are not lost because they have been backed up.
Buhari was also informed that the security forces have recaptured 350 of the escapees while about 450 others are still unaccounted for, and that rapid work is under way to recapture the rest.
The President was accompanied on the visit by Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Prof Ibrahim Gambari, the Chief of Staff.
He said, at the end of the visit, that he is expecting “a comprehensive report” on the incident.
