The Nasarawa State Police Command on Saturday said it recaptured a Boko Haram suspect, Hassan Hassan, who was among the inmates that escaped from the Kuje Maximum Custodial Centre in Abuja.
Meanwhile, the federal government said it has tightened security around the Kuje Correctional facility and other parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Nasarawa State command, DSP Ramhan Nansel added that the fleeing Boko Haram suspect was recaptured at Keffi, headquarters of Keffi Local Government Area of the state.
Nansel said: “Sequel to the attack on Kuje Maximum Custodial Centre and subsequent escape of inmates, on July 9th, 2022 at about 0130hrs, one Hassan Hassan ‘M’ whose name and picture was amongst the escaped inmates with Boko Haram/Terrorism case was recaptured by the eagle-eyed Police operatives of the Nasarawa State Police Command at Keffi.
“The Commissioner of Police, CP Adesina Soyemi has ordered for the transfer of the suspect to a safer location while the intensive search for other escapees and handing over process of the arrested inmate progresses.”
Meanwhile, following the terrorist attack on Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal government says it has tightened security around the facility and other parts of the FCT.
The Controller-General of the Nigeria Correctional Services (NCoS), Haliru Nababa, said the service would spare no effort or resources in hunting down all the escapees from the Kuje facility.
THISDAY gathered that new security arrangements are in place to prevent a repeat occurrence.
As part of the new security measures, the meetings of security forces headed by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, have been brought forward to hold daily from its previous weekly arrangement.
The investigation also revealed that new security checkpoints were mounted at the entry and exit points of the Kuje Area council while similar deployments encircled the prison facility and the area council.
Nababa said the integrated strategies of the security agencies were yielding favourable results.
The NCoS also said there was no case of missing monies in both local and foreign currencies belonging to inmates in the centre after the ill-fated attack on the facility.
The incessant attacks on FCT suburbs and the recent one on the Kuje facility had also heightened tension among residents in the nation’s capital, forcing those in the city centre to commence construction of new fences around their residential houses.
THISDAY gathered that the Brigade of Guards, responsible for the security of the president and his family, also reinforced troop deployments at the entry and exit points of the city, notably, the Nyanya-Karu and Maraba-Keffi axis and Gwagwalada-Zuba and Kubwa on the northern flank of the territory.
The FCT Police Command in a statement issued Friday night said it had put in place water-tight security around Abuja.
According to the statement, “The CP (Babaji Sunday) further noted that in pursuance of the common resolve to beef-up security, the command would intensify robust stop and search operations, high-level visibility policing patrols and surveillance of places of worship, parks, recreational centres and residential areas, and prompt response to any distress calls from across the FCT.”
Given the security situation in Abuja, the command also warned Muslim worshippers not to park their vehicles 200 metres close to the praying grounds.
“Worshippers are therefore advised to pray inside and avoid praying on the expressway to ensure orderliness and proper traffic management.
“At all other praying grounds within the FCT, no vehicle will be permitted to park 200 metres close to the praying grounds. Worshippers and residents are therefore advised to cooperate with police officers deployed strictly for enforcement,” the statement added.
In a related development, the NCoS said there was no case of missing monies in both local and foreign currencies belonging to inmates in the centre after the ill-fated attack on the facility.
Public Relations Officer of the service, Umar Danlami Abubakar, in a statement, affirmed that the cash belonging to inmates deposited in the custody of the authorities of the custodial centre is intact and safe.
He reiterated that there was an existing instruction from the Controller General of Corrections, Nadaba, that all officers superintending custodial centres must not keep huge sums in the facility.
Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia
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