Prison authorities have confirmed that 14 out of the 47 inmates that escaped from the Ikot Ekpene Prisons on December 7, have been re-arrested.
The Akwa Ibom Controller of Nigeria Prisons Service, NPS, Mr. Alex Oditah, yesterday, made the announcement while briefing journalists.
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Oditah also revealed that a three-man committee has been set up to look into the cause of the incident in other to avoid future
occurrence.
In his words:
“some inmates escaped from Ikot Ekpene Prison on December 7, at about 12.45p.m.; to ascertain the total number of those that escaped we had to do headcount. “We discovered that 47 inmates had escaped from custody. Immediately, a search party swung into action and 14 were recaptured.”
The controller added that four of those who escaped died from bullet wounds when they tried to overpower prisons officers on duty. Oditah added that some of the prisons officials, who sustained different degrees of injuries, were receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.
The Controller of Prisons disclosed that the 400-capacity Ikot Epene Prisons currently houses 831 inmates. He said the escaped inmates seized utensils like knives, machetes and other dangerous materials to aid their escape.
Mr. Oditah also told Newsmen that prison officials and other security agencies were working hard to recapture the remaining inmates.
He appealed to members of the public to assist the authority with useful intelligence that would aid the arrest of the fleeing prisoners, adding that security had been tightened in and around all prison formations in the state to forestall breach of security.
The controller also said they are relying on Akwa Ibom State government for logistics assistance to ease its operational duties in the state.
