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UPDATE: NCoS releases names, faces of escapee inmates from Owerri Custodial Centre

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The Nigerian Correctional Services has released the profiles of escapees from the Owerri facility in Imo State.

This publication was issued via its Twitter handle on Friday.

In what was an apparent move to fully gather the complete list and profiles of the escaped inmates, the NCoS posted the list earlier in the day which was reported by Ripples Nigeria before deletion.

More than 1,800 inmates have escaped from the facility after it was attacked by gunmen, officials confirmed.

The attackers reportedly entered the prison yard in Owerri by using explosives to blast the administrative block.

READ ALSO: In now-deleted tweet, NCoS releases names, faces of inmates who escaped from Owerri Custodial Centre

Six prisoners have reportedly returned, while 35 refused to escape.

Police have accused the banned separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, of carrying out the attack. It has reportedly denied involvement.

The Nigerian Correctional Service has confirmed that 1,844 inmates escaped from the jail in Imo state.

Heavily armed men stormed the Owerri Custodial Centre in the early hours of Monday, after arriving in pickup trucks and buses, the service said.

A police spokesperson said the attackers carried rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, explosives, and rifles.

Since January several police stations and vehicles across south-eastern Nigeria have been attacked and large amounts of ammunition stolen. No-one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

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