No fewer than four prisoners were shot dead in Akwa Ibom following a jailbreak at Ikot Ekpene Prison in Akwa-Ibom State.
Also, 36 of the inmates in the prison escaped during the incident.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Prisons, Akwa Ibom State Command, ASP Ogbajie J. Ogbajie, the jailbreak was carried out on Wednesday.
He explained that some prisoners seized an axe from a fellow inmate attached to the kitchen, inflicted a deep cut to his head in the process and immediately made for the rear entrance to the prison.
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“They broke the door with the axe and engaged the staff that chased after them in battle. At the end of the scuffle, 4 of them that sustained gun shots lost their lives while 7 were recaptured.
“36 are still at large and search parties have been activated to effect their recapture,” he said.
Ogbajie also said the Controller of Prisons Akwa Ibom State Command, Alex Oditah, had ordered an investigation into the circumstance surrounding the incident.
He said the CP appealed to members of the public to assist the authority with useful intelligence that would aid the arrest of fleeing prisoners.
According to him, the prison boss gave the assurance that security had been strengthened in all prison formations in the state to forestall breach of security.
