14 Prison Officers Suspended

The Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) has suspended 14 officers in connection with the recent Kuje Prison break.

This is contained in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja by Mr Francis Enobore, the NPS spokesperson.

The affected officers and men are: DCP Musa Tanko; SIP Buhari Dogo; PIP Stephen Edogbanya ; PIP Patrick Teru; IP Usman Peter; IP Dennis Makum.

Others are: IP Fassan Akin; SPA Daka James; SPA Adamu Luka; SPA Zakari Yunasa; PA Asnamal Samuel; PA Ejegwa Patrick; PA 11 Isah Ibrahim, and PA 11 Ngede Salifu.

The statement said the two inmates, Solomon Amodu and Maxwell Ajukwu were standing trial for culpable homicide.

“The Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Services Board (CDFIPB) have approved the suspension of four senior officers.

“The suspension is sequel to the outcome of the preliminary investigation into the incident and in consonance with PSR 030406 (2008) Revised Version; the officers were suspended from duty to allow for unhindered trial process.

“The commissioned officers among them are to be served with letters of query, while the junior staff will be given Form 96 (Charge Sheet) to explain their role in the unfortunate saga,’’ it said.

The statement also noted that efforts to recapture the fleeing prisoners in collaboration with sister security agencies were on-going.

“This is in addition to tightening security measures in and around prison formations nationwide to forestall a repeat of such incident.

“The controller general wishes to solicit the cooperation of members of the public to volunteer useful information that will assist in the recapture of the fugitives,’’ it said.