Prison Comptroller speaks after the riot in Kuje prison

The Controller, Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, Daniel Odaro, has said no inmate or prison personnel was killed in the riot that broke out at the Kuje Medium Prisons on Monday morning.

While speaking exclusively with Daily Trust on phone, Odaro also said no injury was recorded in what he termed “misunderstanding” at the prison facilities.

“One single person was not killed. One single person was not injured, either staff or inmate,” he said. “There was a quarrel between the inmates and the officers who are working there, nothing more than that.

“We were trying to search the blocks, which is a tradition in prisons all over the world in order to discover illegal items that have been brought in through trafficking but some of the inmates prevented our officers from searching their block.”

Reacting to the deployment of more security officers to the prison while the “misunderstanding” lasted, Odaro said: “Deployment is a normal thing. You have to know that this place is a prison. If there was a quarrel between two people and there was a deployment, it doesn’t mean there is a riot.”

He said because of the misunderstanding that ensued, the Service could not continue with the routine search.The Prisons Controller said orderliness has been restored while those who instigated the “misunderstanding” have all apologised.He, however, didn’t confirm if disciplinary measures will be taken against those found guilty or not.