Attempted jail break: Fear grips Edo prison staff

[MrVan]

By GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

BENIN— FOLLOWING Sunday's attempted jail break at  Oko Prison in Benin, Edo State, by yet to be identified gunmen during which no fewer than eight inmates were alleged to have escaped, there were indications, yesterday, that the jobs of some  prison staff in Benin may be on the line.

Vanguard gathered that the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro, who was in Benin to assess the situation in the prison and other prison formations in the state, allegedly  threatened to ensure that prison staff found culpable in the attack were shown the way out of the service.

A source at a closed door meeting between the Minister and the prison authorities, said the Minister expressed dismay at the conflicting reports on the matter between the State Prison Comptroller, Mr. Jimoh Ewelu and the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olayinka Balogun.

While Balogun, during a news briefing in Benin, Monday, claimed that no prisoner escaped during the jail break, insisting that the only two inmates who attempted to abscond were rearrested, the Comptroller told reporters that eight inmates  escaped during the attempted jail break while four others were re-arrested.

The Minister was said to have blamed the Prisons Comptroller and some of the staff for not being proactive.

According to the source: "The Minister's observation indicates that there was a blast during the attack even as he scolded the Comptroller, whose duty it was to inform the public on the position of the incident and not the police; because the incident happened in his territory."

Vanguard Nigeria