Abuja, Nigeria -- Officials said Wednesday that at least 600 prisoners escaped from a brazen jailbreak in Nigeria’s capital. They blamed the Islamic extremist rebels for the escape. Authorities said that 300 of the inmates were captured. According to Shuaib Belagore, permanent secretary of Nigeria’s Ministry of Interior, one guard was killed when "very determined" rebels stormed the Kuje medium-security prison in Abuja. They used "very high-grade explosives." At around 10 p.m., gunfire and explosions were heard in the Kuje region of Abuja as the attackers entered the prison through the hole made by the explosives. Since over a decade, the Islamic extremist rebels that attacked the prison have been fighting an insurgency against the government's northeast. Prison officials claimed that many of the inmates were freed after their attack on the prison.
"We know they are Boko Haram. Belgore said that they came specifically to find their conspirators. "Right now we have retrieved approximately 300 of the 600 who got out of jail. Although there have been several prisonbreaks in Nigeria's northeast over the years, this one is the first to be carried out in the capital.
Many prisons in Africa's largest country are overcrowded. 70% of prisoners are currently on remand, and could be kept in prison for many years awaiting trial. In April 2013, an even larger jailbreak took place in Imo, the state's southeast. Although it was not clear who orchestrated the escape, the region has been a hotbed of Nigerian separatist groups for a long time. Tensions between federal authorities in the region and the Igbo population are high.
According to the U.N., Nigeria's Northern-based Extremist Insurgency is responsible for the deaths of over 35,000 people and displacement of more than 2,000,000 people.
According to the U.N., the prolonged instability, hunger, and inaccessibility of health services that has been caused by the insurgency indirectly led to the deaths of over 300,000.
Nigeria is Africa's largest country, with 206 million inhabitants, is facing the greatest security threat from extremists.
