Severe tension gripped the Kuje Custodial Centre in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Thursday after inmates staged a massive protest over severe overcrowding and a controversial government plan to transfer approximately 300 high-profile suspected terrorists to the facility. ​
The unrest has raised urgent concerns regarding security vulnerabilities at the maximum-security prison, which previously suffered a major jailbreak. ​According to prison sources, the protest erupted when word spread within the facility that the Federal Government concluded plans to relocate hundreds of detained insurgents.
The incoming inmates reportedly include members of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Lakurawa (the newly emerged ideological insurgent group) and Notorious armed bandit leaders operational in the northwest ​Inmates currently serving sentences or awaiting trial at Kuje strongly resisted the move, citing existing subhuman conditions caused by extreme overcrowding.
The prisoners argued that introducing 300 highly dangerous ideologues and militants would not only stretch the facility’s failing infrastructure to a breaking point but also pose a direct threat to their lives and safety. ​The protest, which began as loud chanting and refusal to return to cells, quickly escalated, forcing authorities to activate emergency protocols.
​”The inmates were furious,” a corrections officer revealed on the condition of anonymity. “They barricaded sections of the yard and made it clear that the facility cannot hold any more high-risk detainees. The fear of another major security breach is very real to everyone inside.” ​
Armed guards from the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), reinforced by a combined team of the Nigerian Army, Police, and Department of State Services (DSS), were quickly deployed to secure the perimeter.
Armed personnel managed to contain the situation before it deteriorated into a full-scale riot or jailbreak attempt. ​The Kuje facility, originally built to hold a specific capacity, has long been operating far beyond its limits. Security experts have repeatedly warned that mixing hardened terrorists with general population inmates in an overcrowded environment is a recipe for disaster.
The Nigerian Correctional Service has not released an official statement regarding the protest or whether the planned transfer of the 300 suspects will be put on hold. Meanwhile, security forces remain on high alert around the Kuje axis to prevent any external exploitation of the internal tension.
