Residents flee as escaping inmate of Benin prisons causes panic

AKHERE GODWIN, Benin

Men and officers of the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS), Edo State command, Monday, stormed the Benin Prisons and its environ in search of an inmate who escaped the facility in the early hours of the day.

The inmate, whose name was not disclosed, was said to have taken to his heels and raced along the Government Reservation Road (GRA) along the Government House-Golf road shortly as he and other inmates commenced the day’s menial job close to the Benin moat that shares common boundary with the prison complex.

The incident occurred as majority of the officers were yet to resume work.

Both senior and junior warders on duty had quickly forced an intensive team to find the escaped inmate said to be hiding in the nearby bushes, the secretariat complex of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the High Court and adjoining locations.

Also, another team in a white Toyota Coaster bus trailed him within the GRA, abandoned buildings known to be a hideout for criminals, popular brothels and other possible hidden corners.

The inmate zoomed off half naked as he pulled off his prison service uniform possibly even as most passersby who witnessed the drama fled thinking the inmate was insane as he raced with an overturned shorts covered in sweat. Other officers were seen pulling off their uniforms to join the search team on getting the alert about the situation.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the NPS in the state, Mr. Aminu Suleiman confirmed the escape of the inmate but said he has no details about what actually happened.

“I will speak with you on this after getting information on it upon my return to the office”.