The Ekiti State capital, Ado-Ekiti was on Monday thrown into confusion following the bombing of the Federal Prisons in the city by gunmen suspected to be Boko haram militants.
Sources at the prisons told our correspondent that the gunmen invaded the facility at about 10.30pm on Sunday night and operated unhindered till about 1. 45am on Monday.
As soon as they stormed the prisons, the gunmen detonated a bomb and launched an orgy of shootings that lasted for about 45 minutes.
The gunmen who were about 60 in number arrived in Hilux vans and chanted “Allahu Akbar,” “Allahu Akbar,” “Allahu Akbar,” announcing their arrival with gunshots.
Dynamites and rocket-propelled launchers were reportedly used to blow up the prisons.
Sources at the state command of the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) revealed that the gunmen also set scores of inmates serving various jail terms and those on remand free, but some of them were re-arrested later in the day.
A senior prisons officer was believed to have been killed in the incident, while about 20 sniffer dogs were also shot dead by the attackers at the prison gate.
A woman believed to be the wife of the slain officer wailed controllable and held by sympathisers and she was later led away from the scene when our correspondent visited.
The impact of the bombing on the facility which is located along Afao Road was felt in places like Adebayo, Oke-Ila, Fajuyi, Okesa and the Ekiti State University (EKSU) campus.
The loud bang of the bombing was deafening to the extent that inmates fled in various directions to escape being killed by the invading gunmen.
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