Around 8 pm last Sunday night, chaos erupted in Kafin Tella B in Tunga, Minna, Niger State. The community housing the Minna Medium Prison cowered in fear as residents scampered from unknown gunmen, who stormed the jail house, freeing some of the inmates and killing a Prison Warden, Ibrahim Shekarau, along with the commercial motorcyclist who drove him to work. Shekarau, who was described as a friendly prison warden, arrived at work for night duty, only to be gunned down with his transporter. The incident was the second attack on Kafin Tella B in three years.
Two years ago, gunmen suspected to be armed robbers, attacked the prison on a Saturday evening. They broke into the cells and set 270 inmates free, after overpowering the prison officials. The invaders also broke into the records and armoury and carted away some weapons and bullet proof vests. The June 3 attack occurred while there was heavy downpour. The Nation’s findings revealed that the gunmen arrived minutes before the attack, and told residents to go into their houses. Mohammed Umar, who lives close to the prison, said the invaders arrived at about 7.45pm and ordered everybody to go inside, warning them that if they disobeyed, they (gunmen) should not be blamed for any death. “They were divided into many groups and they came in a Hilux van, a Honda Civic and a Golf car. There may have been more but those were the ones I saw. Immediately after we were ordered in, Shekarau came with a bike and they started with him. “The shooting went on for more than one hour. We were very scared.
Everywhere was shaking, and it was difficult to identify the kind of gun they were using because they were of different sounds. Some sounded like thunder. It was if they were shooting outside my door; my family and I hid ourselves in my room. I could not come out even after the shooting stopped,” he said. Umar disclosed that after the incident, some of the prisoners returned, explaining that they had to run away in order for them not to be killed by the gunmen. Further findings revealed that the deceased prison warden, Shekarau, was the son of the Chief Imam of Wushishi, a local government area in Niger State. He was reportedly married with a wife and three children. According to Umar, “Shekarau was a very popular warden. He related with us easily and he was friendly with everybody. No one in this area will say anything bad about him because he was really good. It was unfortunate that he fell into the hands of those gunmen.”
Several members of the community described Shekarau as easy going and fun to be with. “He never liked trouble. He very simple and he greeted you when he passed by you on the way. Ever since I moved to this area, I have never heard anything bad about him,” said one of the residents. Another resident, who identified herself as Grace, said that she and her family had arrived from visiting a family friend 10 minutes before the incident, when they heard the first shot. “We thought it was thunder since it was raining. When we heard another gunshot, we thought it was a transformer that blew up but my mother said: ‘This is shooting and not thunder or transformer.’ “Then suddenly, one great shot rang out as if it was at the front of our house and we all laid down because we did not know where the shots were coming from.
We stayed on the floor until the shots subsided,” he said. Another resident, Gimba, said he narrowly escaped running into the gunmen as he was on his way home at the period. “I was on my way home, less than one kilometre from my house when I heard the first gunshot. Initially, I thought it was robbery but when it became sporadic, I had to return to where I was.” Yusuf Elias, whose house is closest to the prison, said he had returned home at 7pm and intended to go out again when the incident occurred. “One minute, everything was calm, then suddenly, the booming sound of gunshots enveloped everywhere. I could hear people shouting, calling out to themselves. The shooting was directly outside my gate and I could hear their shouting clearly. “My friend and I had to lie down on the floor.
In panic, I started sending messages out to other friends and neighbours that I knew outside the vicinity. We laid down for more than an hour while the operation lasted. Even after they had gone, I did not have the courage to come out until the next morning.” Another resident, Idris Aliyu, blamed the government for failing to provide adequate security for the prison. “After the 2014 attack, one would have thought government would take preemptive measures against future reoccurrence but they did not. Imagine, there is no security light around the prison at night. I am sure it was because of lack of security that these people came back again,” he said. A visit by The Nation to the prison showed fresh blood littering the spot where the deceased and his transporter were killed.
The prison’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Rabiu Shuaibu, said the authority of the Minna jailhouse is still profiling inmates to ascertain the number of escaped prisoners. About 210 inmates escaped from the prison but 182 are reportedly still at large. The prison authority revealed that security agents have been put on their trail to ensure that they are caught. surveillance helicopters are being seen in Minna.