One hundred and eighteen inmates have escaped the Medium Security Custodial Centres, Suleja, Niger State, overnight.

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) blamed the prison break on a heavy downpour of rain rather than overcrowding or poor facilities.

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Adamu Duza, the Federal Capital Territory Command of the Nigerian Correctional Service spokesman, released a statement on Thursday. It read in part:

 “A heavy downpour that lasted for several hours on the night of Wednesday, April 24, 2024, has wreaked havoc on the Medium Security Custodial Centres, Suleja, Niger State, as well as surrounding buildings, destroying parts of the custodial facility, including its perimeter fence, giving way to the escape of 118 inmates of the facility.

“The service has immediately activated its recapturing mechanisms and in conjunction with sister security agencies, has so far recaptured 10 fleeing inmates and taken them into custody, while we are in hot pursuit to recapture the rest.

“The service is not unmindful of the fact that many of its facilities were built during the colonial era and that they are old and weak. The Service is making frantic efforts to ensure that all aging facilities give way to modern ones.”

Overcrowding has been a challenge for the NCoS for a long time, and little has been done to decongest prison and correctional facilities in Nigeria.