The Koton Karfe prison in Kogi has again been attacked by unknown gunmen, who also set free 144 inmates.
State Controller of Prison, Mr Adams Omale, told newsmen on Monday that the prison came under attack of armed “external forces’’ between 9.30 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Sunday (Nov. 2).
He said that 145 inmates were in the prison as at the time of attack, saying that 119 of the inmates were awaiting trial while 26 were convicts.
Omale said that one of the inmates was shot dead during the confusion that followed the invasion.
The controller, however, said that 12 of the inmates were either re-arrested or returned on their own.
He said that police and army personnel were quickly mobilised to counter the invaders, but the damage had been done before their arrival.
However, residents of the sleepy town, which is just a 25-minute drive to Lokoja, the state capital, claimed that the attackers held sway for more than two hours.
The 50-bed prison facility built in 1934 was similarly attacked in February 2012 by unknown gunmen.
