The Service said 95 were still at large, as 105 of them stayed back following torrential rains and flood in the town which pulled down the Perimeter fence of the centre.
The Service however said no life was lost in the incident.
The Service said inmates recaptured so far and others have been successfully evacuated to safer locations, stressing that the Controller General of the Service, Ja’afaru Ahmed, gave the order for their relocation when he visited the centre.
Spokesman for the Service, Francis Enabore explained that a “torrential downpour on Monday 28th October 2019 caused a surging flood that overran the centre at about 0200hrs pulling down a section of the perimeter fence. ”
The inmates’ cells and offices were also submerged forcing some of the inmates to break out of custody for safety, he added.
Enobore said “At the time of the incident, the facility had a total of 227 inmates. While 122 used the opportunity to escape, 105 of them stayed back. However, 25 of the escapees have been recaptured leaving 97 still at large.
“The efforts of the government and good people of Kogi State including officers and men of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the local vigilante in the community in assisting personnel of the Correctional Service to carry out search and rescue operation is highly appreciated.
“While assuring the safety of inmates in other facilities in the State and indeed other parts of the country, the Controller-General wishes to appeals to members of the public to provide useful intelligence that will facilitate swift recapture of the fleeing inmates. ”
