Gunmen Free 118 Inmates in Nigerian Prison Attack, Kill One
February 16, 2012, 5:07 PM ESTBy Elisha Bala-Gbogbo and Gbenga Akingbule
(Updates with Boko Haram comment from the third paragraph, army comment on shooting in seventh.)
Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Gunmen attacked a Nigerian federal prison, freeing 118 inmates and killing a guard late yesterday in the central state of Kogi, said Kayode Odeyemi, a spokesman for the nation’s prison service.
At least 20 inmates declined to escape after the jail break, while 15 of those freed were re-arrested early today, Odeyemi said by phone from the prison in the town of Koton Karfe, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of Abuja, the capital.
In September 2010, the Islamist militant group Boko Haram freed at least 700 inmates in a jail break in the northeastern Bauchi State.
The group’s purported spokesman, Abu Qaqa, claimed responsibility for yesterday’s operation in a phone call to reporters in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.
Authorities in Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, blame Boko Haram, which draws inspiration from Afghanistan’s Taliban movement, for a wave of bombings and attacks in the mainly Muslim north and Abuja since 2009. Boko Haram freed seven of its members who are now “safe in one of our camps,” said Qaqa, who uses a voice-alteration device when he speaks to reporters.
Boko Haram, which means “western education is a sin,” says it’s fighting to establish Shariah law across the West African nation. The group claimed responsibility for multiple blasts and attacks in the city of Kano on Jan. 20 that killed at least 256 people, according to the Civil Rights Congress.
In another incident, Nigeria’s military killed today one Boko Haram suspect who was about to open fire at a crowded market in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, Victor Ebhaleme, a spokesman for a military task force in the region, said by phone from the city.
--With assistance from Maram Mazen in Abuja. Editors: Terry Atlas, Steven Komarow
To contact the reporters on this story: Elisha Bala-Gbogbo in Abuja at ebalagbogbo@bloomberg.net; Gbenga Akingbule in Maiduguri at gakingbule@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net
