17 Feb 2012

Prisoners freed by gunmen

5:31 am on 17 February 2012

An attack on a federal prison in Nigeria has freed 119 inmates.

A warden was killed when an estimated 20 armed men stormed the prison, in Koton-Karifi south of the capital, Abuja, at about 7pm on Wednesday.

The BBC reports only one prisoner was left behind. All the others are still at large.

The Daily Trust newspaper that attack lasted for about 30 minutes. The gunmen were riding motorbikes. They bombed the gate and then rode into the prison.

The Prisons Service told the BBC it is not believed the raid was the work of the Boko Haram group which previously freed about 700 prisoners in 2010 in Bauchi state.

It also freed some of its captured members during a series of bombings on police stations in the northern city of Kano last month.