Nigeria: how at least 2,000 inmates were freed by gunmen at Imo prison

No fewer than 2,000 inmates at the headquarters of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS), Owerri, Imo State were set free by unknown gunmen on Monday morning
The gunmen also attacked the nearby office of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) of the state police command, also freeing suspects there.
The attackers burnt almost all the vehicles parked at the command headquarters and freed all the suspects in almost all the cells at the SCID.
SaharaReporters learnt that the gunmen operated in over 10 vehicles, and also attacked soldiers stationed at Umuorji along Owerri–Onitsha Expressway.

The attackers were said to have had a free rein during the operation that lasted about two hours and said to have started between 1 am and 2 am on Monday. SaharaReporters learnt that the gunmen caused panic in the town as explosions were heard around the state police command headquarters and the NCC facility in Owerri.
“There was a jailbreak at the Owerri Correctional Centre around 4am after the gunmen struck. Soldiers have been called in to secure the facility but several inmates have fled”, a source reported.

“It was so loud hearing the sound from two miles away from prison but I thought it could be a burial wake keeping but to my greatest surprise, my phone rang and it was my boss calling to know if I was at the headquarters which was negative because I was already at home“.

“Gunmen suspected to be members of Eastern Security Network were the ones who attacked the Imo State prison and set prisoners free before extending their onslaught to the police headquarters, Owerri and setting some sections ablaze. It happened around 1:40am and lasted for one or two hours at the heart of town”, another security official told SaharaReporters.

The attackers were alleged to be operatives of the Eastern Security Network set up by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra but this has not been established yet.
In a video clip obtained by SaharaReporters, the police station was set on fire by the gunmen as gunshots were still being fired.