TheCable

Security agents, on Thursday evening, prevented a jailbreak by inmates of Kurmawa prison, located around the emir’s palace in Kano state.

Sporadic gunshots were heard within the area where the prison is located, as residents prepared to break their Ramadan fast on Thursday evening.

Musbahu Nasarawa, spokesman of the Nigerian correctional service in Kano, confirmed the incident, adding that the inmates attempted to cause pandemonium but were resisted.

“We have put down the rebellion through the concerted efforts of the prison officials,” the spokesman said.

Nasarawa explained that violence broke out when prison officials attempted to retrieve illicit items found with some of the prisoners.

Unconfirmed reports had initially claimed that the commotion was the result of the poor quality of food the prisoners were served when they wanted to break their fast on Thursday.

Nasarawa, however, denied the claims that the crisis was the result of lack of food items or poor quality of food for the inmates.

He added that normalcy has now been restored to the area.

There has been a series of jailbreaks across the country in recent times.

While an attempt by inmates to break out of prison was foiled in Edo on April 14, prison officials sustained injuries following an attempt at the Bauchi correctional centre on April 9.

Meanwhile, in Imo, over 1,500 inmates reportedly escaped when gunmen broke into the correctional centre in Owerri, the state capital, on April 5.