Military Has Taken Over Security In Anambra Prison

Following the relocation of Boko Haram detainees to the Ekwulobia Prisons in Anambra State, the military have taken over the security of the facility.

Sunday Punch investigations showed that security operations in the Federal Government facility are no longer the exclusive preserve of the officials of the Nigeria Prison Service.

The development, sources it is not unconnected with the calibre of the detainees being held behind the walls of the facility.

Armed military personnel were located in strategic locations around the prison. The development has also brought some form of hardship to residents of the host communities of the prison.

Free human and vehicular movement is no longer allowed around the place. Sighted soldiers were sighted compelling passers-by to raise up their arms and get frisked before they were allowed passage. Vehicles were also searched.

Residents of Anambra had last week taken to the streets protesting against the relocation of the detainees. But the Federal Government had reacted saying it was a mere rumour.

But happenings around the facility on Friday further learnt credence to the report that the Boko Haram detainees had been relocated to the quiet Anambra town.

“It is like a war situation. We no longer move freely; we don’t even talk freely because you don’t know who is who now. Armoured vehicles are everywhere” Stanley Ezechukwu, a primary school teacher in the area told our correspondent.

One of the soldiers who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “We are here to ensure that the prison is not attacked by the people who have demonstrated their resentment over the transfer of the detainees.”