More than 1,800 detainees escaped Monday (5/4) from an Imo State prison in southeastern Nigeria, after the attack launched by “armed men”, as announced by the penitentiary service.
“Auvergne (…) prison was attacked at around 2.15am by gunmen who forcibly released 1,844 detainees,” said Francis Enbore, a spokesman for Nigeria ‘s penitentiary service, in a statement.
“Eyewitnesses told that saw a large number of armed men“, who were riding in vans (…) attacked the prison staff and blew up the main gate”, he explained.
James Madugba, spokesman for Imo State Prison, confirmed the attack but said “The situation is under control” and called on citizens to “continue his work.”
Following this attack, the largest in a prison in Nigeria, the neighboring state of Abia announced that imposes a curfew from 10 pm to 6 am.
President Muhammadu Buhari said that the perpetrators are “terrorists” and “anarchists”, but did not name the IPOB (“Biafra Indigenous Peoples”, the separatist organization operating in the State of Imo) as responsible.
The movement recently released impressive videos of a new militia it formed, the so-called “Eastern Security Network” (ESN). These shots show the training of dozens, if not hundreds, of fighters.
At the end of January, there were clashes between the army and local communities, in which at least one person was killed.
Fifty years after the civil war (1967-1970) that claimed the lives of one million people, Biafra’s separatists’ relations with the central government remain strained. However, IPOB spokeswoman Emma Powerful denied any involvement in the attack, calling the allegations against her “false” and “misleading”.
* File photo
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