JUST IN: Fresh Jailbreak in Keffi as 14 Inmates Reportedly Escape Custody

Fourteen inmates have escaped from the Keffi Correctional Centre in Nasarawa State, sparking fresh concerns over security at the facility. The jailbreak occurred on Tuesday, though details of how the prisoners fled remain unclear at the time of filing this report.

Prison sources confirmed the escape, telling Sahara Reporters that the incident was discovered earlier in the day. The Nigerian Correctional Service has yet to issue an official statement, and efforts to reach its spokesman, Umar Abubakar, have so far been unsuccessful.

The incident comes nearly six years after a similar disturbance at the same facility. On August 15, 2019, no fewer than 50 inmates were reported to have attempted a mass breakout, allegedly over poor feeding and inadequate medical care. Security forces, including the Police and the IGP Special Technical Squad, were deployed to prevent the escape and restore order.

At the time, prison authorities denied that a jailbreak had taken place. The then-Controller of the Nasarawa State Command, Emmanuel Okoro, described it instead as a protest by inmates angry at being barred from smoking cigarettes within the prison premises, a practice prohibited by service regulations.