After a rainfall on Wednesday night completely demolished the old Suleja Correctional Centre in the Suleja local government area of Niger State, an unknown number of prisoners fled the facility.

Many of the prisoners fled the old Suleja correctional center when a storm with intense rain struck the area at nine o’clock in the evening.

According to reports, the rainstorm damaged some of the building’s structure and revealed the facility’s inner fence, which had been enclosing one of the cells housing the prisoners.

“The incident is true, we helped to arrest two of the inmates and handed them over to the prison authorities,” a Suleja town resident said, confirming the incident.

It was discovered that a combined team of security officers had been dispatched to a few key locations and trouble areas in Suleja town in order to apprehend the escaping prisoners.

More information was obtained indicating that the guards were firing sporadically to frighten the escaping prisoners out of their hiding places.

It was suggested by sources that the prisoners, having overcome the guards manning the gate, fled in several directions, making it challenging for the security personnel to pursue them.

In the meantime, it was noted that security has been strengthened along the Madalla axis to Abuja road as well as the Minna-Suleja and Suleja-Kaduna roads.

A top official of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed the occurrence to reporters, despite attempts to reach the State’s Comptroller of Prisons for comment at the time of publication being unsuccessful.