- Experts advocate digital security
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
Despite recording about fifteen different successful jailbreaks and losing over 5,000 inmates in the last six years, the Nigeria Correctional Service Custodial Centres have remained the same with no tangible efforts by concerned governments and authorities to forestall future re-occurrence, findings by The Point have revealed.
Checks by The Point further revealed that between 2016 and 2022, the nation witnessed no fewer than fifteen jail attacks in 11 different states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja due to poor security features such as a shortage of armed personnel and weapons required to guard the facilities and lack of technological gadgets and intelligence gathering experts that would prevent occurrence.
Aside from these, experts identified poor management of inmates and the high number of those awaiting trial as other factors breeding overcrowding in Nigeria’s correctional facilities, thus making them vulnerable to attacks and also putting the country’s criminal justice system on trial.
Meanwhile, analysis of the jailbreaks showed that out of a total number of 5,169 inmates who escaped from various prisons between 2020 and 2022, only 1,238 were recaptured.
This implies that security agencies have been unable to re-capture a total of 3,931 prisoners still at large.
Among a series of attacks on custodial facilities in the last six years, the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre in Abuja on July 5, 2022, has been most fierce as 879 inmates reportedly escaped before 443 were recaptured.
The jailbreak was a night of terror for residents of Kuje, who scampered for safety, following heavy gunshots and sounds of explosives. A Terrorist group later identified as the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) breached security in the facility, and after heavy bombardment, facilitated the escape of the inmates including 60 terrorists from the high-profile facility.
The terrorists allegedly accessed the facility with little or no challenge and also left without being caught after an hour-long operation after successfully rescuing their colleagues.
For an attack described as one of the dark days in the history of NCoS, a national embarrassment, and a poke in the eye of the country, findings by The Point showed that more still needed to be done in ensuring that the nation’s correctional facilities are impossible for attackers to penetrate.
Recall that the 9th Senate had directed NCoS to make provision for Close Circuit Television cameras in all correctional centers in its 2023 budget to tackle recurring attacks in the country.
The then Senate President Ahmad Lawan, after an assessment visit to the Medium Security Custodial Centre Kuje, following the attack, expressed shock over lack of CCTV at the facility and described the attack as disappointing and a sign of failure of the security system.
Lawan had stated, “Having gone round the facility itself, we are disappointed that this facility does not have CCTV cameras, something that would record and give you details of what is happening and sometimes record the events. This is a medium security custodial center, how on earth in the FCT facility of this magnitude we don’t have CCTV? It means we can say that all other medium security centers across the country do not have CCTV.
“We have asked the Comptroller General of Correctional Service to ensure that the requests for CCTV at the maximum and medium custodial centres of the country are included in their 2023 budget because this is essential and indispensable.
“Now, as this facility lacks a functional CCTV, there is no record of what happened, except narration. But if we had CCTV, at least the records would have been there and analysis made, and arrest will be based on the information from the CCTV,” the former Senate President had added while tasking security agencies to ensure that the inmates who escaped from the center were brought back.
It was gathered that most prisons still run without functional CCTV cameras, while the modus operandi of security operatives attached to protect the facilities have not improved in terms of their numerical strength and sophistication of their weapons.
Security experts and other stakeholders have expressed disappointment in the inability of security agencies to nab jail escapees and masterminds of the attacks despite assurances.
They also flayed the Federal Government and authorities of custodial centres for failing to improve on the protection of the facilities.
Recall that before the prison break at the Kuje facility, similar attacks took place at various custodial centres in Jos, Edo, Abolongo in Oyo, Kabba in Kogi State, and Owerri in Imo State. Over 1, 000 inmates escaped during these attacks some of whom are still at large.
A criminologist, Emeka Umeagbalasi, blamed past attacks on politicians whom he accused of motivating the jailbreaks.
“Let us discuss the root causes of these jailbreaks because a lot of things that happened under Buhari had political undertones. There was a time it appeared that security forces and Fulani bandits and Boko Haram insurgents had a point of convergence with the then government of Nigeria to the extent that security forces would allow a maximum prison to be invaded unchecked, causing a lot of catastrophe.
“There are things that happen with political undertone and those that happen without political undertone.”
Proffering panacea to securing custodial centres, Umeagbalasi, the Chairman of Intersociety, a civil society group, called for application of digital security to protect prison facilities across the country.
“There is no rocket science in securing this country, the people of this country or any part thereof. It is just that the government of the day has been economical with the truth. With digital security, all custodial centres will be much more secure.
“For instance, look at what happened at the Fulani Cattle market in Abia State. It is just that Nigeria doesn’t want to talk about it because of the ethnic group that masterminded it. That place has been a den of Fulani jihadists and nobody wanted to look into it. Now, this man who became the governor of Abia State said what is happening.
“On getting the security report, the governor installed digital cameras and changed the strategy from night market to a day market only. On account of installation of digital cameras, what happened? Great discoveries were made to the extent that over 70 corpses that were at various stages of decomposition were discovered. Settlements for kidnapping do take place inside that market.
“So, the governor didn’t deploy all the army officers or police officers in the state to the market, he just installed digital security and sincerity of purpose and since then, kidnapping in that axis has stopped.
“What we are suffering in this country is lack of sincerity of purpose from leaders and governors of this country.
The current break in the attacks can only be said to be a mechanical reprieve caused by circumstances, it is not as if the government has done something unique in securing the prisons. Government should digitalize security in the prisons and it is cheaper than carrying AK47. Install cameras everywhere and put tracking devices so that when these bad guys are planning to attack prisons, the trackers will raise alarm and security agents will be sent after them,” he revealed.
Abubakar Umar, the spokesperson of the correctional service, promised to supply information to The Point when contacted but has not kept to the promise as at the time of filing this report.
