Wale, a murder convict was sentenced to death for killing his friend and burying him to avoid detection. He had also buried his victim’s car.
The convict was said to have hatched his escape plan after his appeal for a reversal of his sentence failed to scale through and the court stood by its judgement.
Despite the high fence and the seeming tight security outside the prison, as well as the well-bred sniffer dogs, the convict escaped into thin air and is yet to be found.
Already, THISDAY gathered that the escape is going to lead to a major shake up and mass transfer in a few days in the service.
Also, it was gathered that following the furore the escape had generated in the prison, an assistant controller general of prisons was detailed to visit the prison in person.
Although THISDAY was not privy to the details of his visit to the maximum prison, which he made on Tuesday, it was however gathered that tempers are still high among personnel.
A source familiar with the happenings of the prison, who spoke to THISDAY on strict anonymity, said the condemned inmate escaped the Kirikiri Maximum prison last week.
The source said the convict had told the warden that he wanted to go outside the prison walls and he allegedly acquiesced only for Wale to escape.
He said, “The initial deal was that the N50, 000 would grant Wale a visit outside the walls but immediately the warden fulfilled his part, Wale reneged and fled.
“When it dawned on them the magnitude of the crime, they visited the sick bay and begged them to give them a note that says the convict was cleared to go out.
“This is because only the sick bay can write up a note for a convict to leave the walls and it’s usually as a referral to another hospital if the treatment of the sickness is beyond what that they can offer.
“Expectedly, the sick bay refused to write any such note because at the end of the day, they might bear the blame and consequences when the bubble bursts.”
The aiding and abetting by the warden whose identity could not be ascertained took place despite the repeated warnings by Controller General of Prisons (CG), Dr. Peter Ekpendu.
The CG had in a visit to the Zone A Command in February 2015, warned his men against such unacceptable acts.
In an interview with THISDAY he had said, “My team and myself have been having a nationwide tour of our zones to meet our officers.
“This is to talk to and interact with them on what and what we have to do to prevent the spate of attacks, security breaches, jail breaks and all other unacceptable occurrences in our prisons nationwide.
“Basically, we have been emphasising the need of doing everything that we can to ensure that inmates do not traffic on the use of handsets and our that staff don’t ever aid and abet them because of the ugly effects and impacts such things have been having on our prisons.”
When contacted, NPS National Spokesperson, Francis Enobore, confirmed that the convict escaped but debunked claims that he was aided by a warden.
He said, “It is not true that he was aided by our warden. What happened is that the inmate in question developed some health challenges and he was in pain.
“He had ulcer and he was taken to the medical unit where we have our fully qualified doctors and nurses for treatment.
“Because we don’t have x-Ray machine to enable the doctors carry out proper diagnosis, we usually send such inmates to another hospital with our staff.
“Unfortunately, on their way to the hospital, they were ambushed by gun-wielding men and in the melee, the convict escaped.
“It’s possible the ambush was planned but the matter is currently being investigated and we will let you know the result of our findings. “
When asked why the picture of the escaped convict wasn’t advertised in the media to aid the search, he said, “It would merely serve the purpose of driving him further underground.
“But if you are subtle about it, he will be caught because he would let his guard down and relax thinking we have let him off the hook.”
Enobore also said NPS intelligence network alongside the State Security Service, Police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) are on the trail of the escapee.
He also said when arrested, the convict alongside his accomplices would face the full wrath of the law.
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