Gunmen stormed a prison in central Nigeria's Kogi state on the night of Sunday 12 September to Monday 13 September, releasing 240 inmates, a prison administration spokesperson said on Monday. .
The identity of the attackers remained unknown.
Central and northwestern Nigeria have been terrorized by criminal gangs for years.
"The Kabba medium security detention center in Kogi state has been attacked by armed men who have not yet been identified and 240 detainees have been forcibly released," Francis Enobore said. -speak of the Nigerian prison administration, in a statement, specifying that research was underway to find the escaped prisoners.
Second major breakout in five months
At around 10:45 pm GMT Sunday, a number of attackers "engaged in violent exchanges of fire with the armed guards" of the prison, according to him.
The armed men then invaded the prison, where there were 294 people in detention, 224 awaiting trial.
Large-scale prison escapes are not uncommon in Nigeria.
On April 5, in a daring attack, armed men captured the police headquarters in Owerri (south-eastern Nigeria, capital of Imo State) and freed more than 1,800 prisoners.
Nigerian security forces are often overworked and overwhelmed, facing a 12-year jihadist insurgency in the Northeast and separatist unrest in the Southeast.
With AFP
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