FG’s reluctance to swap arrested insurgents with Kaduna-train captives reason for Kuje attack – Report

The reluctance of Nigeria’s government to swap imprisoned insurgents with kidnapped Kaduna-train passengers was responsible for Tuesday’s night attack at the Kuje prison facility, according to Daily Trust report.

The Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) has since claimed responsibility for the attack.

Sources familiar with the insurgent group’s operations told the publication the facility was attacked to free their members who were held in prison because the government was not responsive to their demand.

“They discovered that their demands would not be met and therefore, they set out for full scale war,” the source told the publication.

The publication quoted another source as saying intelligence reports were provided to the police days before the attack, but the warning was ignored.

“Sadly, there are moles everywhere, and therefore, even though the security operatives were alerted, the terrorists had their way,” the source was quoted as saying.

“And that is why they perpetrated the nefarious act with precision. Some of them distracted attention of the security operatives by detonating many explosives outside the facility after destroying the main entrance, which gave a different group task with the responsibility of bringing out their members unfettered access.

“Those that gained access went straight to the cells where the Boko Haram members were incarcerated and set them free. There was no serious resistance.

“Those freed would definitely unsettle Nigeria’s security architecture; they would disrupt peace unless something is done. And as you can see, the VIP section was not compromised because those incarcerated there were not their targets.”

The publication further reported that two police officers have been arrested for allegedly compromising security.

“Two of the terrorists that escaped called a police investigation officer (IPO) in one of our stations and spoke to him in a compromising manner. They are now being investigated to know their level of complicity,” a source reportedly said.