The Nigerian military has revealed that terrorists intend to attack three more prisons in the country.
According to new military intelligence, terrorists intend to free their detained fighters by attacking prison facilities in Gusau, Birnin Kebbi, and Katsina.
It was learned that the plan is to attack the prisons sequentially due to limited logistics, as they would have attacked simultaneously.
Nigeria’s North-Western region, where all three prison facilities are located, is struggling to combat the scourge of terrorism, as Bandits, Ansarul, ISWAP, and Boko Haram terror groups have recently infiltrated the region from the North-East.
Earlier this month, a coalition of Ansarul and Boko Haram terrorists attacked Abuja’s Kuje Prisons, resulting in the escape of over 400 inmates. According to Premium Times, the military’s latest warning stated that the terror attack “may be staged” on a Friday, explicitly indicating this Friday, July 29, for the first in Gusau, Zamfara State.
According to military intelligence sources, the terrorists believe senior prison officials would have travelled for the weekend or stayed off duty at their various homes if they struck on a Friday.
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Furthermore, at this time, terrorists believe it may be easier to compromise warders in order to smuggle logistical coordination items, such as telephones, into prisons.
The Scheme
According to military sources, terrorists’ plans include relocating fighters and weapons to areas hosting or close to target prisons.
In the case of Gusau, where the military specifically stated that terrorists plan to attack this Friday, fighters would move to the Ungwan Gwaza neighbourhood, which houses the Gusau prison. They would hibernate there until the attack.
The military also revealed that terrorists would be housed in Katsina’s Kofar Soro area ahead of the planned Katsina prison attack “within the month of August.” Google Earth shows that the prison is located at Kofar Soro, which also houses the emir’s palace, a police station, and a large mosque.
Terrorists plan to attack Birnin Kebbi, with some fighters relocating to Kwaido in Kebbi State’s Augie LGA. According to Google Maps, this area is more than two hours away from the capital, Birnin Kebbi.
In light of this, the Nigerian Correctional Service has increased security around all of these prisons (NCS).
The correctional service’s spokesperson, Abubakar Umar, confirmed this, saying, “Our intelligence system has been raised, and we are working with other security agencies to ensure our facilities are protected nationwide against further attacks.”
