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Nigerian gunmen have freed 119 prisoners in the central state of Koton-Karifi and killed one guard, according to media reports, citing local officials.
Hadijha Aminu, a spokesperson with Nigeria’s prison system, told AFP, “From reports available to us, a large number of gunmen attacked the Koton Karfe prison around 7:00 pm and threw explosives at the gate and opened fire on our wardens.”
Aminu said she did not believe that Boko Haram, the militant Islamist group, was responsible for the jailbreak, according to the Vanguard newspaper.
She said she believed those responsible to be part of a “robbery syndicate whose colleagues were among the detainees.” The syndicate said via three written communiques that it wants the inmates at the prisons released, the newspaper reported. Many of the inmates freed were awaiting trial.
Isiaka Yakub, a local resident, said that “from all indications,” the assailants appeared to be “members of Boko Haram,” according to AFP.
A local reporter was quoted by PM News Nigeria as saying “some gunmen believed to be members of Boko Haram sect stormed the prison around 7:00 pm and blasted the prison gate with explosives.”
Boko Haram freed around 700 prisoners from a Nigerian jail two years ago.