INSECURITY: Escort Shoots ‘Attacker,’ Foils Attempt To Free Inmate In Lagos

INSECURITY: Escort Shoots ‘Attacker,’ Foils Attempt To Free Inmate In Lagos

November 2, 2021

There was pandemonium Monday when hoodlums laid siege at the Lagos State High Court sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square over the shooting of one of their members by a prison escort.

The hoodlums caused a scene, which made the judges end proceedings abruptly and other court officials scampered to safety.

According to a witness, the gunshot victim was allegedly trying to interact with some of the inmates in the ‘Black Maria’ and was warned several times by prison officials but he ignored them.

A statement by Rotimi Oladokun, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), Lagos, said an inmate was brought before the court for hearing when some suspected associates “staged an attack on the escort personnel with an attempt to forcefully release the inmate while at the premises of the court.”

“However, the quick response and vigilance of the NCoS court escorts thwarted their effort,” he said

Mr Oladokun said that one of the attackers sustained bullet injuries during the incident.

“During the ensuing melee one of the attackers was shot while trying to dispossess armed personnel of his rifle,” he said.

Mr Oladokun added that security operatives were immediately deployed to the court premises to prevent a breakdown of law and order adding that “all inmates have been successfully returned into secure custody of the Correctional Service.”

Newsmen gathered that after the victim was shot on the leg, information got to the hoodlums, who swiftly came to barricade the entrance of the court and deflated the tyres of the ‘Black Maria’.