Unknown gunmen have set Owerri Correctional Centre and Imo police command ablaze after setting inmates free.
It was gathered that the operation which took place in the early hours of this morning lasted for over an hour without interception from men of Imo state Criminal Investigation Department that share a common boundary with the prison yard.
The Imo State Police Command which confirmed the attack on its headquarters and the Owerri Correctional Prison in the early hours of Monday said the gunmen freed over 1500 inmates during an attack on the correctional facility and burnt vehicles parked inside the command headquarters in Owerri.
The police said that the gunmen operated from 1 am till 3 am and freed the suspects in almost all the cells at the State Criminal Investigation Department of the command.
The state police spokesperson, Orlando Ikeokwu, said the hoodlums attacked both the prison facility and the state police command headquarters.
He, however, assured the people of the state that the security agencies were on top of the matter.
The gunmen were said to have sung solidarity songs at the Government House Roundabout for about 30 minutes before attacking the facilities.
