We Failed Despite Preparing For Kuje Custodial Centre Attack — FG

Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola has admitted security operatives failed to repel the Kuje Custodial Centre attack on July 5, 2022 despite having made elaborate preparations beforehand.

He said 888 persons escaped from the Kuje Custodial Centre.

Aregebesola, who said this during an investigative hearing by the House of Representatives Joint Committee to investigate the attack, said 65 well-armed security agents with the sole responsibility of averting the attack failed.

The Minister, who said the insecurity in the country calls for grave concerns, said all the security challenges were inherited from the previous administration.

According to him: “On the day of the invasion, there were 31 military personnel of the Nigerian Army, five personnel of MPOL 21, five personnel of MOPOL 50, two personnel of the Counter Terrorism Unit of the Nigeria Police, two personnel of Kuje Police Division, seven personnel of Nigeria Immigration, three personnel of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and 10 personnel of correctional armed squad.

“These 65 people were there for specific responsibility of resisting and preventing any attack. And they were all armed. Because of the presence of the pressmen here, I would not tell you the grades of arsenals in their possession, but they were well armed.”

There was some drama during the hearing as the lawmakers debated on whether or not journalists should cover the proceedings of the hearing. A member, Chudy Momah, moved that journalists have to stay to cover.

But as the Minister continued to make his presentation, the lawmakers decided the information was too sensitive for the media and proceeded behind closed doors.

But before that, the Minister said: “If we had a more exclusive arrangement, I would give you specific grades of equipment, military arsenals. Arsenals were positioned for the defence of the facility, however, in spite of everything, our arrangement of protection of Kuje failed and the facility was breached. On the night of the attack, Kuje accommodatedd 994 inmates out of which 64 were terror suspects, Boko Haram, ISWAP and otehrs. 888 inmates escaped during the attack, among them 554 awaiting trial persons. 71 were convicts, 36 were on death row and 17 were on life imprisonment. 106 refused to leave the facility during the attack while 28 inmates who left the facility voluntarily returned between the 6th and 15th of July, 2022.”

The lead chairman of the Joint Committee, Hon Sha’aban Sharada, said it was of grave concern that the attack which lasted for several hours did not record any formidable resistance from the security personnel deployed to the facility neither was there adequate response from the security agencies in the Federal Capital Territory despite the proximity of the Nigerian Airforce station at the International Airport with the scene of incidence.