The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has directed the Nigerian Correctional Service to improve its efforts in intelligence gathering.
He said such information gathered must be acted upon, describing it as the panacea to solving the problem of incessant Custodial Centre attacks.
According to a statement by the Media Adviser to the minister, Sola Fasure, the minister spoke during a visit to the Maximum and Medium Security Custodial Centres in Kirikiri, Apapa, Lagos State on Tuesday.
Aregbesola was also quoted to have boasted that no jailbreak attempt by inmates had succeeded.
The statement read in part, “So far, no jailbreak by inmates has been successful, we have successfully quelled all of them. What we have reoccurring since the #EndSARS protests of October 2020, has been a mass of people attacking our facilities from outside and setting the inmates free.
“However, I have now directed the Controller General of the NCoS to double his efforts on intelligence gathering to fortify and prevent breaches to the Custodial Centres beyond the use of arms and force.”
The minister further stated that the country was on the path to totally defeating Boko Haram terrorists and other criminals ravaging the country, stating that over 61,000 were in custody in the North-East.
“Today, a core of the criminal elements and insurgents across the country are on a path to defeat, they have been heavily degraded. Over 61,000 of them are in our custody in the North-East.
“Our assurance to Nigerians is that we shall rise above these challenges and emerge stronger and more resilient.”
He, however, directed personnel of the service to ensure that the Custodial Centers are defended against any form of attacks, warning that never again should attack on facilities happen.
Aregbesola said, “I have also informed our officers and men here that they must fight to defend our institutions, territory and constitution. It also applies to all others wherever they are posted in Nigeria. The ragtag groups of opportunists must not be allowed to attack our institutions and get away. They must not live to tell the story,”.