Minister of Interior Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Monday, ordered officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) to shoot dead any attempt to attack prison facility.
Ogbeni Aregbesola handed down the directive in Ibadan while addressing senior officers at the Agodi Custodial Centre of the NCoS during an official inspection tour of the facility.
The minister pointed out that correctional facility should be seen as a red zone, and that “anyone who attempts to attack it is dead and should not be alive to tell the story.”
“The most important thing is the security impregnability of this facility. This is a red zone, dangerous zone. Whoever attempts to breach the facility is already dead. He must not live to tell the story,” he said.
Ogbeni Aregbesola added that “any effort to breach our facility is not acceptable. Don’t shoot to injure but shoot to kill for any reason. This is a total embodiment of the state to guarantee the security of the people.”
He stressed that, henceforth, the NCoS officers must make it impossible for any attack to penetrate the facility and that such an attempt must remain an attempt.
The minister maintained that the attacks on the custodial centers are not acceptable and must stop, adding that any attempt must henceforth be resisted with brutal force.
Assuring the officers that the government would do its best in ensuring that their welfare is a top priority as a way of ensuring effective service delivery, Ogbeni Aregbesola said, “we will do our best on your welfare to ensure effective service.”
“I must commend your work for not recording any case of COVID-19 in your facility. You must be effective in preventing the penetration of this facility. You must have the capacity to repel viciously any attempt to attack or invade this facility and an attempt must remain an attempt.”
During the tour, the minister ordered the demolition of shops and business centres within and around the prison facility.
