Scores of inmates may have been freed last night after gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram attacked a prison facility in Gwoza Town of Borno State, witnesses said.
Scores of inmates may have been freed last night after gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram attacked a prison facility in Gwoza Town of Borno State, witnesses said.
A civilian was said to have been killed by a stray bullet during the shootout.
Yahaya Inusa, a resident of Gwoza told PREMIUM TIMES on phone that the gunmen drove into the town at about 10 p.m. “and went straight to the prison located very close to the Emir of Gwoza’s palace.”
“They used explosives to break open the prison and freed all the prisoners after which they burnt down the place completely,” he said.
Another source who doesn’t want to be named said the gunmen had also attacked a settlement called Fadagwai at the outskirts of Gwoza hill where they shot and killed undisclosed number of villagers there.
The details of the incident still remain sketchy as officials of the Nigeria Prisons Service in Borno state could not be reached to confirm the exact number of freed inmates.
The spokesperson for the Joint Task Force in Borno, Sagir Musa, did also not return calls or respond to short messages sent to his phone.
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