Following the attack on the Kuje Correctional Center in Abuja by Boko Haram insurgents, about N82 million and another $36,000, have been declared missing.
According to prison sources, the inmates are threatening a deadly riot should warders fail to find the missing monies.
The money had been kept with at least five prison officials, including those manning the commissary, for several months, officials said.
“One prison guard told 13 inmates this afternoon that all the money they kept with him had been stolen,” an official said.
“He bluntly told them that the N26 million is no longer in his possession.”
President Muhammadu Buhari, had on Tuesday afternoon visited the prison facility for a few minutes on his way to the airport on a foreign trip to Senegal Wednesday, while assuring correctional managers of support.
But as the president departed the scene, prisoners began shouting that they’d lost money during the raid, while some threatened violence should officials fail to return their cash.
“Yes, that is the problem we’re confronting now,” an official said.
“Some people lost money in naira while some lost in dollars.”
The official said the money belong to wealthy individuals inside the prison.
“It’s those big men that are more enraged because they kept millions with the warders,” the official said. “About N82 million was declared missing and four people are looking for $36,000.”
“We don’t know what the prison management will do about the matter because the money was not kept with the warders officially,” our source added.
The officials spoke under anonymity to Peoples Gazette because they did not receive permission to comment on internal prison disputes.
