The government has collected biometric data of all detainees in Nigerian jails to ensure national security and proper profiling, said Interior Minister Rauf Aregbsola to the media at a news conference held by the Presidential Media Team on Thursday at the State House in Abuja.
Mr Aregbsola claimed the procedure was conducted before the country’s latest prison breakout, and the data will help the country rearrest the escaped inmates.
“I will like to inform Nigerians that we have captured the biometric information of all inmates in the facilities of NCoS, working in partnership with the Nigerian Identity Management Commission (NIMC),” said the minister.
“Therefore, we have the capacity and are tracking all escapees from our facilities. In addition, we are working with and have shared the details of escapees with INTERPOL, to check the risks of cross border movements.”
According to Mr Aregbsola, approximately 3,000 prisoners who escaped from different facilities last year are still on the loose.
He said 4,860 convicts had fled from various detention centres since 2020, and 984 of them were successfully apprehended.
At least four jails were assaulted last year. Last month, an attack on Oyo State’s Abolongo Prison liberated hundreds of convicts. Roughly at the same time, a jailbreak occurred at the Kabba Correctional Centre in Kogi State, where hundreds of convicts fled as two guards were slain.
