Aregbesola orders prison officials to shoot dead anyone who attacks correctional facility

Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola has ordered prison officials in the country to ensure anyone who carries out an attack on any prison facility within the country does not live to tell the tale.

The minister gave the order on Monday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital during an inspection tour of the Agodi Custodial Centre.

He told the prison officials to use live ammunition and shoot to kill when repressing attacks on prison facilities in the country.

Aregbesola who described correctional centres as “red zone”, stated that any attempt to attack the custodial centres must be resisted with brutal force.

READ ALSO: Imo govt to relocate correctional facility after gunmen attack

While urging the officers to always be at alert, he stressed that “whoever attempts to breach the facility is already dead. He must not live to tell the story.”

Aregbesola said, “This is a red zone, a dangerous zone. Any effort to breach our facility is not acceptable. Don’t shoot to injure but shoot to kill for any reason. This is a total embodiment of the state to guarantee the security of the people.”

He also commended the officers at the Agodi custodial centre for their service especially in the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic. He hailed them for not recording any case of COVID-19 in the facility.

He assured the officers that his ministry would do its best in ensuring that their welfare is made a top priority

“We will do our best on your welfare to ensure effective service. You must be effective in preventing the penetration of this facility.

“You must have the capacity to repel viciously any attempt to attack or invade this facility and an attempt must remain an attempt.”

There is a growing trend of jailbreaks in the Southern part of Nigeria, with recent cases in Oyo, Imo, Edo, and Osun states.

When the Abolongo Correctional Centre in Oyo state was attacked in October, 2021, 837 inmates, who were still awaiting trial, reportedly escaped from the facility.

“A total of 262 of the escapees have been recaptured leaving 575 still at large,” the agency’s Public Relations Officer, Olanrewaju Anjorin, said in a statement he released after the attack.

By Oluwatobi Odeyinka

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