GUNMEN ATTACK EKITI PRISON, FREE INMATES

Panic gripped Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State  capital city, on Monday when news filtered into town that some  heavily armed gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram insurgents  attacked  the Federal Prisons and freed some inmates .  The assailants, who were said to have besieged the place about 10.30pm, killed a prison official on guard, bombed  the main gate with the aid of a rocket launcher  and dynamite , just as they killed all the 20 sniffer dogs tied in front of  the gate.  Reliable sources confirmed to journalists during investigation that the gunmen, numbering  60, arrived in Hilux trucks, brandishing dangerous weapons such as cudgels, cutlasses, AK 47 rifles , charms and  chanted ‘Allahu Akbar’ as they shot sporadically into the air .   The source added that the gunshots  and the bombing were so deafening that the  inmates had to  run in different directions to prevent being mowed down by the gun-wielding assailants.  The source confirmed that the  Minister of Interior , Com. Abba Moro, was on his way to Ekiti to assess the situation .  However, when journalists visited the Prison located along Ado –Afao road, they were not allowed entry  into the premises of the prison.  Early in the morning, a statement aired on the state radio had alleged that the action was carried out by APC thugs to free a leader of Oodua People’s Congress, Niyi Adedipe, who was imprisoned on the order of the Court for alleged murder of a former chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Chief Omolafe Aderiye.  Denying the allegation, APC described it as another ploy by the PDP to tarnish the image of the APC in Ekiti state.  The Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Taiwo Olatubosun, who spoke on the telephone said: "What shall we gain for doing that. We cannot do such things. It is not in our character to do such things."