Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS), Kuje Medium Security, is one of the most dreaded prisons in Nigeria.
In the 1990s, during the military regime, Kuje established its unsavoury reputation as the place where critics of the government and pro-democracy activists were sent.
Kuje is currently home to famous names like Farouk Lawan, a former member of the house of representatives in Nigeria, who was sentenced to seven years in 2021
Lawan was charged with corruption after he allegedly accepted $500,000 from a Nigerian billionaire oil tycoon, Femi Otedola, as part of a $3 million bribe Lawan had solicited from Otedola.
Another famous name that recently comes to mind is the disgraced Nigerian Super Cop, Abba Kyari, who is standing trial for eight counts bordering on conspiracy, obstruction, dealing in cocaine, and other related offences.
Other notable names are Joshua Dariye and Jolly Nyame, former Governors of Plateau State and Taraba State respectively.
Despite the securities put in place to secure inmates, there have been incidents of break-out from the facility.
The Nigerian Correctional Services confirmed an attack on the Custodial Centre in the Kuje area council of the Federal Capital Territory in the late hours of Tuesday 5, July 2022.
The report suggests that some members of the terrorist sect, Boko haram, attacked the facility with bombs and guns to break out some of their members, causing many inmates to escape from the facility.
In June 2016, a jailbreak was recorded at the Kuje Medium Security Prisons in the Federal Capital Territory as two high-profile inmates, Solomon Amodu and Maxwell Ajukwu, who abducted and killed a society lady, Mrs Edith Chinedu Aliyu, escaped through the fence.
There was an attempt on Monday, August 29 2016, after a riot broke out in the Prison just as officials arrived at the facility for their routine duties.
A report by a top prison official revealed that the crisis started at about 10.30 am from one of the blocks and spread to other blocks within the facility.
He said a team of security operatives had been drafted to the facility to contain the uprising but could not tell whether any inmate had escaped.
With the sudden uprise in prison breaks around the country, the Nigerian Prison Services would look into upgrading the security watch on every one of its facilities in the country.