Prison Break: Buhari Visits Kuje, Expresses Disappointment with ‘Intelligence System’
POLITICS DIGEST- President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday visited the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kuje, which was earlier attacked by terrorists.
President Buhari was briefed about the attack by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Dr. Shuaib Mohammad Lamido Belgore, and the Controller General of Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa.
The officers showed him the bombed-out section used to access first, and the records office which was set on fire, adding that the invaders thereafter launched an attack on all cells in which Boko Haram terrorists were held.
According to a statement by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, the President was apprised that, at the end of it, none of the 63 terrorists are accounted for, but it was emphasised that records were not lost because they had been backed up.
Read Also:
President Buhari, who, like most Nigerians was shocked by both the scale and audacity of the attack queried: “How did the defences at the prison fail to prevent the attack? How many inmates were in the facility? How many of them can you account for? How many personnel did you have on duty? How many of them were armed? Were there guards on the watchtower? What did they do? Does the CCTV work?” Question after question.
The President was also informed that the security forces had recaptured 350 of the escapees while about 450 others were still unaccounted for, and that rapid work is under way to recapture the rest.
After inspecting some of the points impacted by the attack, President Buhari spoke to newsmen, expressing disappointment with the intelligence system (and utilization).
“I am disappointed with the intelligence system. How can terrorists organise, have weapons, attack a security installation and get away with it?”
The President, accompanied by Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, the Chief of Staff, said at the end of the visit that he is expecting “a comprehensive report” on the incident.
