By Mathew Dadiya, Abuja
The Federal Government has indicated that the terrorists who attacked the Correctional Centre, Kuje in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had superior fire power which made them succeeded in the operation.
The Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Maigari Dingyadi, declared this while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the National Security Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Dingyadi said the security personnel deployed to the facility did their best to repel the attack but were subdued by the superior weapons of the terrorists.
The minister however, revealed that some of the assailants were killed.
Asked why the terrorists could not be stopped, he said: “You see, these kind of things, they happen and I want to assure you all those who are supposed to play a role in ensuring that the attack is neutralized did the best that they could to neutralize it.
“I think what helped them was the number of people they came with and the superior weapons they came with.
“And because nobody anticipated it, the few people could not withstand the number that they came with. I think that’s what happened.”
He, however, assured that investigation into the incident will continue.
Dingyadi said, Mr. President has been briefed and he has assured the nation that he’s on top of the situation.
According to him, “Whatever is supposed to be done is going to be done and is being done to ensure that those of them that are not yet back are brought back to the Correctional Center. The security agencies are investigating to find out the immediate and remote causes of what happened, how it happened, whether that is any cause for taking punitive measures against who is supposed to be…these things will be determined by the outcome of the investigations, which I believe will be out very soon.”
Asked if no suspect has been arrested, the ministers explained, “These kind of things happen. And I want to assure you that all those who are supposed to play a role in ensuring that the attack is neutralized did their best that they could to neutralize it.
“I think what helped them was the number of people they came with and and the superior weapons that they came with, because nobody anticipated it. The few people who are there guarding the place could not withstand the number that they came with. I think that was what happened.
“Like I said, this investigation is still going on. You will only do good to allow the investigation to continue and maybe by the time they finish, you will be able to get the details of what happened and why it happened.
“Some of them have been killed. But I can’t give you the number and I don’t know the number. Because like they use to do, whenever one of them is killed, they take away and you cannot know the number of people who have been killed but definitely,y quite a number of them were killed and many of them runway with bullet wounds.”
On whether there is a timeline for the investigation, the minister said, “As soon as possible. We have raised this issue at the meeting and we know Nigerians are eager to know the actions that are going to be taken. But some of these things are security issues, we do not need to give out the details of what we are going to do. But we will just assure Nigerians that we’re on top of the situation and we will be doing the needful.
