Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has expressed disappointment over the way security operatives abandoned their duty posts on sighting the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists, blaming them for the ease the terrorists took over the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kuje, Abuja without any serious resistance.
The ISWAP terrorists, who claimed responsibility for the mayhem at the Kuje Prison on Tuesday night, released over 800 inmates including 69 of their comrades.
The Minister, who inspected the level of damage at the Custodial Centre on Friday evening, insisted that there was an adequate deployment of security personnel at the facility at the time of the attack.
He, however, expressed dismay that security operatives abandoned their positions to allow the terrorists to have a free day.
Aregbesola told journalists at the prison: “We have a world-class facility here, by any standard. I am disappointed with the level of defence.
“We had enough men to protect this facility, but unfortunately, they couldn’t hold their positions effectively for defence, and that was the reason for the breach.
“Kuje is the most fortified in the country. If fortification for security is the determinant of whether it is medium or maximum, it is medium by size but maximum by the security being put there. We have a platoon of security officers deployed here.
“We have the high grade of military and police and other security forces deployed for protection, but strangely, something happened, most of which I cannot say on camera.”
He reiterated his earlier directive to security personnel at various custodial centres in the country to defend the facilities, which he described as red zones.
