• Gunmen raided a jail near the Nigerian capital Abuja on Tuesday night.
• Prison officials said that they had repelled the attackers and brought the situation under control.
• It was unknown who was responsible for the attack, but Nigeria’s security services are battling jihadists, criminal gangs, and separatist groups.

ABUJA: Gunmen stormed a jail near the capital of Nigeria on Tuesday night, but correctional service officials said that they had repelled the attackers and brought the situation under control.

On Tuesday night, people said they heard loud explosions at the Kuje Medium Security Custody Centre on the edge of Abuja.

Residents said that security guards shut down roads leading to the prison on Wednesday morning, but there was no information right away about whether or not prisoners could get out.

“The armed squad of the Nigerian Correctional Service and other security agencies attached to the custodial centre have responded and calm has been restored to the facility and the situation is under control,” a jail service official said.

It was unknown who was responsible for the attack, but Nigeria’s security services are battling jihadists, heavily armed criminal gangs, and separatist groups across the country.

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In the past, people with guns in Nigeria have attacked prisons to get prisoners out.

Last year, more than 1,800 detainees escaped after heavily armed militants with explosives raided a jail in southwest Nigeria.

The attackers used guns to fight their way into the Owerri jail in the state of Imo. They then stormed the building.

The state of Imo is a part of a region that is a hotbed for separatist organisations that seek an independent state for the indigenous Igbo population.

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