The Lagos police command has arrested a warden attached to the Kirikiri Custodial Centre, Lagos State, identified as Kayode Fatombi, for aiding the escape of some prison inmates.
According to The PUNCH, the three inmates were arrested by the police for alleged robbery and kidnapping.
Consequently, they were brought before the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja.
According to a source, two inmates escaped after the warder lead them out under the guise of transporting them somewhere.
After receiving information about the incident, the police located and re-arrested the inmates.
This is when they allegedly admitted to paying the guard N500,000 each.
The source said, “The warder is now at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, and is expected to be charged on Monday.
“He was attached to the Kirikiri custodial prison as a warder, and he took the inmates facing trial at the High Court for kidnapping and armed robbery out of the prison and allowed them to escape. He claimed that they ran away while he was leading them out. During the investigation, it was gathered that he purposely allowed them to escape, so he was arrested and kept at the SCID, Yaba.
“The suspects were tracked and caught and they confessed that they gave him money to allow them to escape. The inmates confessed that they paid him N500,000 each.”
According to the source, the officer had been fired and would be prosecuted on Monday.
“He was led to the police office at the SCID on July 6 in handcuffs and leg chains,” he added.
According to a reliable prison source, the incident occurred a few months ago, and the warder was arrested around mid-May 2023.
Two members of the three-man robbery gang escaped, while one was still in detention, according to the source.
“What the warder told his bosses was that he was taking the inmates back to prison after their court sitting at Ikeja when he was waylaid by a gang that freed two of the suspects.
“The prison service arrested him for a disciplinary procedure. This was ongoing when the warder consulted with someone in the police force and engaged him to track the escapees. He provided the necessary information that led to their re-arrest.
“When they were re-arrested, instead of briefing his bosses in the correctional service on the development, he kept the information to himself. He went to meet the police sometime in May and was arrested and detained.
“The information I have is that when the suspects were arrested, somebody told them who leaked out their details and because of that, they made a counter-allegation that the warder collected money from them. That was why the police detained him,” the source added.
According to the source, the re-arrested inmates were also supposed to be returned to the service, where they would be charged with multiple offences, including escape from lawful custody.
“Even the warder has been in a police cell for about two months now. I gathered that the Lagos Controller has tried to talk to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police for possible inter-agency collaboration, but it has not worked,” the source added.
The incident has been confirmed by the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin.
Hundeyin said, “I can confirm that he is in our custody and will be arraigned this week. He was arrested for aiding the escape of some inmates, two of whom have been re-arrested.”
