Nigeria Jailbreak: Blast Frees 132 Inmates

More than 130 prisoners are on the run after dynamite was used to free them from a jail in Kogi state, central Nigeria.

Jacob Edi, a spokesman for the area governor’s office said: “There were 145 prisoners at the time of the attack. One died, eight have been recaptured and four surrendered voluntarily. The rest are at large.”

“They blew up the thing with dynamite,” said national police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu of the attack which took place on Sunday evening.

Koton Karfi prison is thought to hold many suspected fighters from Islamist group Boko Haram who have been responsible for a five-year insurgency in Nigeria that has killed thousands of people and driven hundreds of thousands more from their homes.

In 2012 the group claimed responsibility for a similar raid on the same prison that freed more than 100 inmates. But Mr Ojukwu said Sunday’s raid was not linked to the uprising, blaming it on “criminal activity” instead.

Meanwhile, an explosion at a market in the city of Potiskum in Nigeria’s northeast Yobe state has reportedly killed 15 people and injured 50 others. The blast occurred as Shia Muslims were marking Ashoura, a major religious date in the Islamic calendar.

“We lost 15 of our members in a suicide blast at the end of our Ashura procession,” said Mustapha Lawan Nasidi, the head of the Shia community in city.

In July, two suspected Boko Haram militants reportedly detonated bombs near a mosque in Potiskum killing 13 people and injuring 35 others.

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Nigeria Jailbreak: Blast Frees 132 Inmates