Nigeria’s interior minister said Wednesday suspected Islamists who freed hundreds of inmates in an attack on a prison had “overwhelming firepower” and guards were unable to stop them.
“Due to the overwhelming firepower which the attackers deployed on their mission, they were easily able to overcome the stiff resistance which was put up by the gallant prison officers who attempted to block the progress of the assault on the prison,” Emmanuel Ihenacho said.
Suspected members of an Islamist sect that launched an uprising last year attacked a prison in Nigeria’s north on Tuesday night, freeing more than 700 inmates and sparking a fierce gun battle with authorities.
The inmates who escaped included alleged members of the extremist group, known as Boko Haram, and authorities say the attackers’ aim was to free them.
A police statement late Wednesday said some 200 “suspected Boko Haram fanatics” armed with machine guns and homemade bombs were involved in the attack.
Four people were killed and 721 inmates were freed, including 105 suspected sect members, it said.
“During this attack, the administrative block, the armoury and a van were set ablaze,” the statement said, adding 35 inmates had since been re-arrested.
The head of Nigeria’s prisons said earlier Wednesday that more than 120 inmates had returned on their own.
Last year’s uprising was put down by a brutal military and police assault, with hundreds eventually killed.
“We also wish to warn any potential troublemakers that the federal government will not fold its arms and allow the situation to degenerate unchecked,” the interior minister said.
“The government has a responsibility to protect the lives and properties of its citizenry and it would not shirk this responsibility.”