The Senate has disclosed that the recent incident at Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre, initially reported as a jailbreak, was actually caused by the collapse of century-old mud walls.
Addressing journalists in Abuja after a closed-door meeting with Interior Minister Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, pinpointed the outdated infrastructure of the facility as the cause of the jailbreak.
“This particular prison was built in 1914… for about 200 people. And they now have about 419 inmates. And some of these places were built with mud,” Senator Oshiomhole stated.
He clarified that heavy rainfall and storms led to the structural collapse, allowing inmates to flee. Despite efforts to re-arrest some escapees, more remain at large.
“We are unanimous that we need to take advantage of our role, the National Assembly, to recognize that these prisons built a hundred years ago simply don’t meet modern requirements,” Oshiomhole stressed, advocating for the modernization of prison facilities.
