The Minister of Interior, Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, has stated that the number of jailbreaks in the country has decreased under the present administration compared to previous years.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Tunji-Ojo dismissed claims that there had been as many as seven jailbreaks since 2023, insisting that the actual number was lower.
He explained that the Nasarawa incident involved a small number of inmates, while the Niger jailbreak in Suleja happened after a fence collapsed. Regarding the Maiduguri incident, Tunji-Ojo stated that flooding caused by a dam disaster triggered the escape.
“That was nobody’s fault. People died, there was a disaster, and the entire correctional centre was overflooded,” he said.
Tunji-Ojo noted that lessons were learnt from the Suleja jailbreak, which exposed gaps in the biometric record system. “It was then we realised our biometric system was not really up to date. We immediately worked on that,” he said.
Tunji-Ojo stressed that correctional centre management is now on the concurrent legislative list, allowing both the federal and state governments to operate them.
“About 72% of inmates are state offenders, with 67% awaiting trial, yet the federal government bears most of the cost,” he said.
He stated that the government would collaborate with state governors to develop a joint strategy to address challenges within the system.