An inmate described as “a slim young man” has been apprehended by the Department of State Services (DSS), after a major operation at the Kirikiri prison in Apapa, Lagos.
The Quest Times had reported how a large number of officers stormed the penitentiary last week in search of the fellow threatening one of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s daughters.
According to prison sources, there is an ongoing dispute between Kirikiri authorities and law enforcement agents, following news that a facility inmate is threatening the lives of Nigerians, including some prominent citizens.
The DSS operatives arrived at the Apapa penitentiary late Sunday afternoon, March 12.
The DSS agents were seen patrolling the premises, both inside and outside, in search of the individual.
The agents were reported to have tracked the phone number being used to threaten Nigerians to the prison, with the implications that the person who issued the threat was an inmate.
Said a source: “The criminal who used a mobile phone that the secret service tracked as the one making threats is inside the prison location.”
It was also gathered that a unit of operatives routinely moved round the premises in a Communication Command Vehicle while the rest stayed outside.
Sources revealed that after days of tactics and intelligence gathering that involved the questioning of the culprit’s father, the operatives succeeded in locating him.
“They didn’t leave until the operation was completed. The order from the headquarters was to find the person(s) behind the threat by all means necessary.
“The phone used was under surveillance; he was eventually found at the Medium Security Prison last Tuesday or Wednesday. Before then, the agents had gone from cell to cell,” one said.
After the DSS left, the top echelon of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) in Abuja, dispatched a special team to the prison on Thursday.
The “external officers” were said to have thoroughly combed different cells for hours, confiscating sim cards, undeclared cash, phones and other prohibited items found.
“A shake-up is expected. What happened will most likely result in the transfer of some personnel out of Kirikiri,” a prison officer disclosed.