No fewer than 16 inmates have escaped from the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Keffi, Nasarawa State, following a security breach in the early hours of Tuesday.
Spokesperson of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Umar Abubakar, said in a statement that the inmates overpowered personnel on duty during the breakout, leaving five officers injured — two of them in serious condition and receiving treatment at a government health facility.
According to Abubakar, seven of the escapees have been recaptured, while efforts are ongoing to apprehend the remaining fugitives.
The Controller General of Corrections, Sylvester Nwakuche, has visited the facility and ordered a full-scale investigation into the incident.
The jailbreak adds to a string of similar incidents in recent years. In 2024, torrential rains led to the escape of almost 120 inmates from Suleja prison, near Abuja. In July 2022, more than 600 prisoners, including suspected Boko Haram and Islamic State members, fled after an attack on Kuje prison.
Earlier in April 2021, over 1,800 inmates escaped from a facility in Imo State following a gunmen attack, while more than 800 broke free from a prison in Oyo State in July the same year.
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