The Edo State Government, on Monday imposed a 24-hour curfew on the state till further notice following attacks on two custodial centres in the state, which led to setting free of inmates by hoodlums.
According to a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie, the curfew takes effect from 4pm on Monday.
The protests turned violent on Monday after hoodlums invaded two custodial centres in Edo State and freed the inmates, while others attacked officers of the Rapid Response Squad in Lagos and other parts of the country.
Kano residents also joined the protests following the death of a 17-year-old boy in police custody.
In Benin, the Edo State capital, six persons were feared killed when hoodlums hiding under the guise of the protest broke into the Benin Correctional Centre and the Oko Medium Security Centre, and released inmates at the facilities.
The armed squad of the prisons reportedly engaged the thugs in a gunfire, which resulted in the death of six persons, while several others sustained injuries.
Four of the dead were confirmed inmates, while the identities of the two others were unknown, but were believed to be among the hoodlums.
Also destroyed was the High Court 4 beside the prison, which the hoodlums vandalised.
Punch learnt that the hoodlums started gathering on the Sapele Road beside the prison as early as 7am, setting bonfires and sending back motorists and other road users.
They launched an attack when their number had swelled considerably and broke a part of the wall, while some climbed the fence into the prison yard.
A few of the inmates escaped with gunshot wounds, while an elderly man was recaptured while walking away like a passer-by.
At Oko, the hoodlums were said to have overpowered the five armed guards at the facility and had a free day looting shops by the road leading to the prison and carting away valuables from the prison officials’ offices.
It was gathered that immediately after the attack in Benin, security was alerted in Oko, but calls to the Nigerian Army and the police for reinforcement were not heeded, hence the ease with which the hoodlums overpowered the prison guards.
The Oko facility has the capacity to accommodate 1,300 inmates.
Before the attack on the Oko Correctional Centre, the hoodlums were reported to have ransacked the Oba Market Police Station, attacked its armoury and stole guns.
Benin was also shut down by protesters fighting against police brutality and bad governance in the country. As early as 7am on Monday, all the major roads leading to the city were blocked.
The entire city was on complete lockdown, as protest points were set up on the various roads such as Airport, Akenzua/Plymouth, Ring, Siluoko, Akpakpava by First, Second and Third East roads.
Some protesting youths in the communities seized the opportunity to extort money from motorists using the routes by demanding between N200 and N1,000 before allowing them to pass. Punch
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