Prisons Deputy CG Laments The Absence Of CCTV Security Cameras At Jos Custodial Facility



The Oasis Reporters
December 2, 2021

By Asile Abel, Jos
The deputy Controller-General, Operation, Nigerian Correctional Service, Mohammed Tukur has lamented the absence of security cameras at the Jos Custodial Centre.
Tukur made this known during a visit to Jos medium centre to assess the extent of damage at the facility following the armed attack by hoodlums on Sunday, November 29, 2021.
It would be recalled that on Sunday, unknown gunmen invaded Jos Correctional Centre where deaths were recorded and over two hundred inmates escaped while others are currently undergoing treatment as a result of injuries sustained during the attack.
Speaking after touring the facility, Tukur said that the Jos Custodial Centre is devoid of Closed Circuit Television Cameras, “we don’t have security cameras here”.
According to him,” we have CCTV in some of our custodial centres. However, CCTV can be provided when financial provisions are made for it by the government.
“Even in Jos here the CCTV can be installed as soon as we get the money but, it is not automatic that every custodial centre will get CCTV at the same time”, he revealed.
Expressing how the incidence occurred, Tukur said that “on that fateful day the attackers that came met our armed men outside here and before they knew what was going on, they had gunned down one of our personnel and you know our men have to engage them.
“However, because of the number of the assailants that came here, they were able to penetrate the custodial centre and some of our inmates escaped. Some through the fence while others left through the main door.
“From the door here, if not for urgent repairs, you would have seen how the bullets penetrated the door.
“Because of the inter-agency synergy and cooperation we were able to stop everybody from going out. If you look at this place we have the police headquarters nearer here, the police barracks in front of the custodial centre while the DSS is behind us here and all these people including the military and civil defense helped in seeing that the inmates did not all go out. We are grateful to them because that is the essence of synergy.
“Some of the inmates died through bullet wounds. We also lost a staff and one is wounded while six inmates are right now in the hospital receiving treatment from bullet wounds and scratches.
“You can imagine over two hundred inmates getting out of this place. If you look at the number and compare it to the number of staff we have on ground before we got help from other sister agencies, you will know that the number of inmates that went out is that much and you cannot imagine the few armed guards that were on duty to combat all of them”, Tukur pointed out.
He acknowledged that about 17 inmates have been recaptured and search is ongoing in collaboration with sister security agencies to unravel where other escapees are.
On whether they were able to identify the people behind the attacks, Tukur maintained that ” we cannot ascertain who the attackers are for now because investigations are still ongoing.
“And until we get the report of the investigators we will not be able to tell exactly who these people are, from where they came or how many they were”.




