No fewer than three prisoners from the Ijebu Ode Correctional centre in Ogun State’s Ijebu Ode Local Government Area have escaped.
Victor Oyeleke, Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Correctional Service, Ogun State Command, confirmed the jailbreak on Tuesday.
According to Oyeleke, the event occurred at 3 a.m. on Saturday.
“Yes, it is confirmed; it happened in the early hours of Saturday morning around 3 a.m.,” he stated. A search party has been formed to locate the three of them. We have their biometrics and contact information for their relatives.
“We are working together with other sister agencies, and in good time they will be brought back.”.
According to reports, the three prisoners scaled the barrier and fled.
A statement from the So-Safe Corps’ Ijebu Imushin Area Command, which has since gone viral, also verified the jailbreak.
The statement reads, “The report reaching us now is that three prisoners escaped from the Ijebu-Ode Correctional Center, whose names are Hammed Adeboyejo, who was convicted of murder or armed robbery; Fatai Taiwo Akande from Ijebu-Igbo, who was sentenced to murder; and Oguntona Aliu, who was convicted of sexual offense. In case you see any of them, quickly contact the office of the So-Safe Corps Command closer to you, the Nigerian Police, and any other security agency.”
When contacted, the So-Safe Corps Commander, Soji Ganzallo, stated that he knew nothing about the alleged jailbreak and that it should be dismissed.
“I don’t know anything about it, so discountenance it,” Ganzallo said.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
