Description

An officer of the Correctional Service has been confirmed dead following an attack on the Afokang Correctional Center in the Cross River State capital, Calabar.

This was disclosed by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Effanga Etim, in a Press Statement made available to journalists in Calabar on Thursday evening, October 19, 2023.

He added that the incident happened on Wednesday at about 0600 hours on 18th October 2023 at the said facility, a group of armed men attacked the facility.

He said the armed squad on guard duty supported by personnel from sister security agencies engaged the attackers in a fierce gun battle and repelled them, with some of them escaping with bullet wounds.

According to him, “Unfortunately, in the ensuing battle, one of our personnel paid the supreme prize.”

The Command confirmed the gunmen were successfully repelled by gallant personnel and that no inmate escaped from the facility.

On his part, the Controller of Corrections, Cross River Command, Amos Danlami Kupan PhD, assures the public that normalcy has been restored, while security has been beefed up in the said facility as well as other custodial facilities in the Command to contain any external and internal aggression.

He urged the public to disregard reports that some prisoners escaped during the incident as they were unfounded and intended to create tension