Heavily armed gunmen, on Sunday, raided a jail in south-central Nigeria and freed 266 inmates. They blew up the perimeter fencing and freed almost everyone in prison, authorities said. This is the second major jailbreak in Nigeria this year. Gunmen attacked a prison in Owerri in southeastern Imo State in April, freeing more than 1,800 inmates, a Reuters report reads.
Rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and explosives were used in April to free jail inmates in Owerri The authorities have appealed to the public to share any information that would help them to recapture the escapees who were freed on Sunday. 28 inmates out of 294 at Kabba prison had not escaped. Of the 294 inmates, 224 are pre-trial detainees and 70 convicted inmates. "Gunmen in large numbers attacked from all angles and didn't give the correctional service any opportunity of responding," said Ede Ayuba Ekpeji, an Assistant Inspector-General of Police for the region told CNN. At the time, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari described the Imo prison break as "an act of terrorism”. The Kabba prison was established in 2008 with a capacity of 200 inmates.
