ISWAP takes responsibility for the Kuje invasion and releases the Kaduna train attack perpetrators

 ISWAP takes responsibility for the Kuje invasion and releases the Kaduna train attack perpetrators

Kuje prison wall pulled down using explosives

On Tuesday night, Abuja's Kuje Medium Security Custodial Center, which was being guarded by scores of soldiers, Department of State agents, police officers, and members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, was bombed by a group of gunmen thought to be terrorists.

The terrorists released 600 prisoners during the attack, which started at 10:22 p.m., including 15 deadly Boko Haram commanders who planned the March 28 attack on the Kaduna-Abuja train in Katari, Kaduna, which resulted in eight fatalities and more than 68 passenger abductions.

In a 30-second video, the Islamic State West Africa Province took credit for the attack and showed the shooters torching cars parked outside the building.

The spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Service, Umar Abubakar, confirmed that four prisoners, three terrorists, and NSCDC officer Insp. Illyasu Abraham perished in the incident.

The Kuje attack happened just a few hours after a terrorist attack on a convoy of automobiles transporting the Advance Team comprising security guards, protocol officers, and media personnel ahead of the President's departure to Daura for Sallah.

According to information obtained by The MEDIA on Wednesday, the attackers bombed the fence before breaking into the building, razed seven cars, and demolished other structures.

According to reports, the gunmen operated for nearly two hours without receiving assistance from the security services.

The incident caused anxiety in the nation's capital as well as in Kuje, a nearby satellite town where the correctional facility is situated.

The facility houses about 900 prisoners, including former Intelligence Response Team Commander Abba Kyari, who is being prosecuted for drug trafficking.

Former Plateau and Taraba State governors Joshua Dariye, Jolly Nyame, and others who were granted pardons by the Council of State in April are also present at the facility.

Due to the delay in receiving their approval letter from the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, they have not yet been issued.

The PUNCH states that in the last five years, there have been over 12 raids and jailbreaks, during which no fewer than 3,500 prisoners and experienced criminals have fled.

Top security sources claimed that after entering the detention facility, the assailants headed for a location on the large grounds where the Boko Haram commanders were detained.

Niger jail

They allegedly yelled out the names of the terrorists who had recently been transferred from a special detention facility for insurgency militants in Shiroro, Niger state, to the correctional facility.

The deadly BH leaders were moved from the prison facility in Shiroro for trial in Abuja, according to a source. When Kyari was the commander, they were among the dozens of terrorists who were captured by the IRT.

The attackers went to a portion of the detention facility where their members were being housed after breaching the perimeters and identified them by name. That indicates that they are aware of the whereabouts of the men in advance. It is a planned raid with covert official approval.