As NCoS Chief charges officers to recapture others
Peace has gradually returned to Owerri Custodial Centre in Imo State following the recent invasion of the facility on Monday, by gunmen suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB.
A statement issued yesterday by the Corrections’ Public Relations Officer, PRO, OF Enobore, disclosed that as at 3:50pm yesterday, 7th April, the Centre had recovered a total of 48 inmates who escaped in the wake of the invasion, thus increasing the number of inmates presently in custody to 84, including those that resisted the temptation to escape during the attack.
Among the escapees, 11 were recaptured by men of the 211 Nigerian Airforce Base, Owerri, while others either came back on their own volition or were returned by their relations, traditional rulers and religious leaders.
Meanwhile, acting on the directives of the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Acting Controller General of Corrections, John Mrabure, has charged all staff in the Command to go after the fleeing inmates and smoke them out of hiding at all cost.
Reading the riot act during the interactive session with personnel attached to the Custodial Centre including those at the State Headquarters, Mrabure further asked the entire body of staff to braze up to frontally resist the emerging security challenges confronting the nation and by extension, the Nigerian Correctional Service.
The Corrections boss expressed his profound appreciation to other security bodies in fortifying Custodial Centres across the county, as well as in the Search and Recover exercise. He equally thanked other individuals and groups for their patriotic disposition in ensuring that escapees in their custody are safely returned to the Custodial Centre.
He appealed for more support in this regard in order to keep the dangerous offenders out of circulation and make the society safe and secure for everyone.
