Jihadis attack jail in Nigeria’s capital, 600 inmates escape

By CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press

KUJE, ABUJA (AP) — A Nigerian official says that at least 600 inmates escaped in a jailbreak in Abuja, the capital. Shuaib Belgore, permanent secretary of Nigeria’s Ministry of Interior, blamed the attack on Boko Haram, Nigeria’s Islamic extremist rebels who have waged an insurgency in the country’s northeast for over a decade. He said authorities have recaptured about 300 of those who escaped. Nigeria’s jihadi rebels have carried out several jailbreaks in the country’s northeast in recent years, but this is the first in the capital city. Nigeria’s extremist insurgency by Boko Haram and an offshoot known as the Islamic State Central African Province is blamed for the deaths of more than 35,000 people and the displacement of more than 2 million.