Gunmen armed with explosives stormed Kuje Medium Security Prison on the outskirts of Abuja at about 10pm on Tuesday, freeing nearly 900 of the prison’s 994 inmates, government officials said. At least 443 of the 879 escapees were still missing late Wednesday, said Umar Abubakar, a spokesman for Nigeria’s prison service. One prison guard was killed in the attack and three others were injured. “They came in numbers, entered the prison and freed some of the prisoners,” Nigerian Defense Minister Bashir Magasi told a news conference near the prison on Wednesday morning. Magassi assumed the gunmen belonged to Boko Haram, but Islamic State later claimed responsibility. He added: “The situation is under control.” Later on Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari visited the prison where his senior officials toured the facility. He later tweeted that he was “saddened” by the attack and “disappointed” with Nigeria’s intelligence system. “How can terrorists be organized, have weapons, attack a security facility and get away with it?” Buhari asked. Prison officers investigate a gate that was vandalized during the prison break in Kuje, near the capital, Abuja. Photo: Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters Witnesses living near the prison facility said the attack lasted for more than an hour, with security forces arriving long after the inmates had escaped. Iliya Makama, who lives nearby, said: “Around 10pm we heard the sounds of gunfire which continued for about 40 minutes. In between the shots we started hearing loud explosions. “After a little over an hour, they started running past my window. At first I was lying on the floor with my wife… All this while there were no sirens or helicopter patrols from the police or soldiers.” Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Prison breaks have become more common in Nigeria, where last year more than 1,800 inmates escaped from Owerri prison in southeastern Imo state after an attack by heavily armed men with gunfire and explosives. The attack on Kuje will heighten fears of the growing capability of armed groups across Nigeria, which have been launching bold attacks ever closer to the capital, with little or no resistance from overwhelmed and under-equipped security forces. It came hours after gunmen attacked a motorcade of Buhari’s security personnel in his home state of Katsina in northwestern Nigeria ahead of the president’s planned visit. On Wednesday, the president’s spokesman said: “The attackers opened fire on the motorcade from ambush positions but were repulsed by the army, police and DSS personnel accompanying the convoy. Two people in the motorcade are being treated for minor injuries. All other staff, personnel and vehicles arrived safely in Daura.” Unrest has grown across Africa’s most populous country, with security forces fighting on multiple fronts, from a 13-year-old jihadist insurgency in the northeast, to terrorist and jihadist “bandit” groups in the northwest, kidnappings for ransom and terrorizing rural communities. The movement of jihadist groups from the northeast into northern and central Nigeria, forming alliances with other armed groups, has raised alarm. In Niger state, local government officials said the groups have effectively taken over communities just a few hundred kilometers from Abuja, taking advantage of the lack of rural security.
