Inmates break into Calabar prison armoury

An undisclosed number of inmates
on Friday gained entrance into the
armoury of the Calabar Prison in
Cross River State and attempted to
escape after a gun duel with
warders but were overpowered by
combined team of security agents.
The incident, which occurred at
about 11:00am, was said to have
caused pandemonium as residents
of neighbouring Afokang, Iman and
Jebbs areas of the metropolis
scampered for safety.
The Afokang end of the prison fence
was broken during the incident
while two inmates were said to
have escaped but the Comptroller
of Prisons in the state, Mr. Clement
Udosen, denied the claim.
It was, however, not clear how the
inmates gained access to the
armoury, but it was learnt that a
total of 53 rifles were recovered
after the incident while one could
not be accounted for.
An anonymous prison official said
about 17 hardened criminals
consisting kidnappers, drug barons,
ex-militants and armed robbers
were brought to the prisons two
weeks ago. He said their arrival
sent an alert that something
untoward might happen.
An eyewitness, Solomon Okoro,
said two of the inmates escaped
through the broken fence but one
of them was apprehended by
vigilant youths in Afokang Street
while the other escaped.
Reacting to the development,
Udosen said, “By 11 o’clock in the
morning, the DC in charge of this
prison called me that there was a
serious problem. When I came, the
whole place was filled with people
with rifles, people who had come
here to help us, the soldiers, police,
civil defence, state security service
and others.
“Two cells of about 70 prisoners
each organised themselves and
overpowered the prison staff and
rushed to the armoury, seized
some rifles and went back to fire at
the staff. In that confusion they
broke other cells and the whole
yard was filled with inmates.
“Luckily for now they have all been
rounded up and nobody has
escaped.
“A lot of people have been injured
and one staff had been rushed to
the hospital.”