119 inmates escape as gunmen storm Nigerian prison

119 inmates escape as gunmen storm Nigerian prison

2012-02-17 10:58:42 GMT+7 (ICT)

ABUJA (BNO NEWS) -- More than 100 inmates have escaped from a prison in central Nigeria after armed men broke into the facility on late Wednesday evening, officials said on Thursday. One officer was killed during the attack.

The incident took place on late Wednesday evening when about 20 gunmen on motorbikes stormed the jail in Koton-Karifi in Kogi state, located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of the capital Abuja. The attackers used bombs and heavy gunfire, killing one prison officer.

During the attack, which lasted approximately 30 minutes, the gunmen were able to free at least 119 inmates, a prison service spokeswoman told the BBC on Thursday. Most of the prisoners were awaiting trial and none were described as high-profile detainees.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but the Islamist militant Boko Haram group is usually blamed for such attacks. The group has carried out similar jailbreaks before, including a massive 2010 attack on a prison further north in Bauchi state, freeing about 700 prisoners. Many of the inmates were members of the Boko Haram.

However, Hadijha Aminu of the Nigerian Prisons Service told the BBC that officials did not suspect Boko Haram to be behind Wednesday's jailbreak. She declined to explain why the Boko Haram had been ruled out, the broadcaster said on its website.

The Boko Haram group has been blamed for most of the region's terrorist attacks and seeks the imposition of an extremist stance of the Shariah law, which is a Muslim code of conduct. The group's name, in the local language of Hausa, roughly translates as 'Western religion is sacrilegious' or 'non-Islamic religion is a sin.'

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