Terrorists released all Boko Haram suspects in Kuje prison - Defence minister

Nigeria's defence minister Bashir Magashi said all Boko Haram suspects in custody at Kuje prison in Abuja have been released by terrorists.

Gunmen late Tuesday attacked the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre, Abuja with explosives.

NCoS spokesman Abubakar Umar said men of the Armed Squad of the NCoS and other security agencies attached to the Custodial centre have responded and "restored to the facility and the situation is under control."

However, during a visit to the facility, Magashi told journalists that all Boko Haram members in Kuje prison are yet to be seen during assessment.

"The Prison is accommodating about 994 inmates and over 600 escaped. Many people have been recaptured and brought back to the prison. Maybe by the close of the day, more will have been captured and returned," Magashi said.

"I think everything is under control. The people who came to do this activities from the records we believe they belong to a particular group. Most likely, they are Boko Haram members because we have sizable number of Boko Haram suspects in detention, and presently we cannot locate any of them.

"I think they are about 64 in the prison and none of them now is available they have all escaped.

"The attack started around 10:30pm. They came in their numbers gained entrance into the prison and they released some of the inmates and which we are now following to see the kind of inmates that they have released.

"Very soon, we will give you the correct figure of the inmates that were taken. Aside that, we are trying to see what we can do to ensure that all escapees are returned back."

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior Shuaibu Belgore explained that over 300 of the inmates have been retrieved and more are on the way.

He added that the facility houses 994 inmates and that the attackers, which he suspects are Boko Haram terrorists, attacked the facility to rescue their co-conspirators.