Gunmen storm Nigerian prison, free inmates

KANO, Nigeria

Gunmen early Monday stormed a prison in southeastern Nigeria and freed an unspecified number of inmates before setting it on fire, police said.

The gunmen also destroyed the State Police Command Headquarters in Owerri, the capital city of Imo state, and burned down almost 50 vehicles parked at the main office, a witness told Anadolu Agency.

The Nigerian Correctional Service confirmed the attack but declined to give casualty figures.

James Madugba, a spokesman for the prison department, told reporters that authorities are still trying to determine who escaped and the level of devastation caused.

“There was an attack on the Nigerian Correctional Centre very early this morning around 2:15 a.m. [0115GMT] and some of the vehicles were burnt. Fire service came to contain the fire. We are yet to confirm exactly what happened,” he said.

Confirming a firefight between police and gunmen, he said details will be shared soon.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

President Muhammadu Buhari later condemned the attack, calling it an act of terrorism.

Garba Shehu, the president’s spokesman, tweeted that he instructed security and intelligence agencies “to fully mobilize and go after the terrorists, apprehend them and get them punished under the full weight of the law.”