Out of 4,860 inmates that escaped from various custodial centers in Nigeria from 2020 till date, 3,876 of them are still at large, Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has said.
The minister disclosed this in Abuja at a media briefing organized by the Presidential Media Team at the Presidential Villa, on Thursday.
He said only 984 of the escapees have been recaptured, leaving the country with about thousands of inmates out of custodial centres.
Aregbesola said the biometrics of all inmates in the country have been captured, and was the government’s hope that the exercise would aid the tracking and rearrest of the escapees.
He said the recent attacks on some correctional facilities in the country are a reflection of the insecurity in Nigeria, adding that security forces are on the trail of some of the attackers,while some arrest had been made with in Imo State.
The minister said a task force would be inaugurated soon to enforce the re-arrest of all escapees and their collaborators.
