The minister of interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, has said that 65 personnel of a joint task force were present at the Kuje Correctional Facility, Abuja, on the day it was attacked.
He stated this on Monday while appearing before a joint committee of the house of representatives.
He said the 65 personnel comprised men from the Nigerian Army, NSCDC, Nigerian Immigration Services and other agencies.
Recall that more than 800 prison inmates escaped during the attack on July 5, 2022.
More than half of the escapees, including 65 Boko Haram detainees are still at large.
ISWAP, a breakaway faction of Boko Haram, claimed responsibility for the attack and later released a video of the incident.
Aregbesola refused to disclose the details of the arms at the disposal of the security personnel on duty that night.
He said he could not disclose the details because of the presence of journalists.
He stated that despite the number of personnel at the facility, they failed to prevent the breach.
“On the 5th of July around 10 pm, huge number of elements that I believe to be terrorists of a particular brand came in a large number to attack our facility.
“In that facility on that day of the invasion were 31 military personnel of the Nigerian army, five personnel of MOPOL 21, five personal of MOPOL 50, two personnel of counter-terrorism unit of the Nigeria police, two personnel of Kuje police division, seven personnel of Nigeria Immigration Service, three personnel of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), 10 personnel of correction armed squad.
“These 65 people were there for the specific responsibility of assisting and preventing any attack and they were all armed,” he said.
With Premium Times report
