Unknown armed men took the Imo Police Command headquarters by surprise around 1 am this morning, setting it ablaze before proceeding to the nearby correctional facility to release prisoners.
Many eye-witnesses took to twitter to post pictures of the attack and share their experiences of being roused from sleep by sounds of heavy gunfire.
Over a hundred prisoners are believed to have escaped from the correctional facility, although no official confirmation has been obtained as yet.
Amnesty International records shared online indicate that Owerri Correctional Centre hosted 2,156 inmates as against its installed capacity of 548 people.
The extent of damage to the attacked government institutions is yet to be determined, but various clips posted online suggest that the damage to the police premises is massive as vehicles and buildings could be seen being consumed by raging inferno.
Efforts to obtain official reactions were yet to yield positive results at the time of filing this report.
Jail break in Imo state, several inmates freed as Owerri came under attack in the early hours of today!
Residents were kept awake as sounds of gunshots and dynamite persisted. Cars are a others were set on fire within Prisons’ premises. pic.twitter.com/BRUtTVOsXg
— Ngozi Clara (@ngoziclara) April 5, 2021
