The Nigeria Correctional Centre (NCC), Edo State Command, has confirmed that an awaiting-trial inmate, Osita Thomas, aged 28, escaped from custody during a court appearance last week. The inmate was facing charges of conspiracy and stealing at the time of his escape.
The command's Public Relations Officer, Aminu Suleman, disclosed the development in a statement dated October 21 and released to journalists in Benin on Thursday. The statement confirmed the identity of the escaped inmate and the charges against him, but did not provide details on how the escape occurred.
How Thomas Escaped
According to The Punch, Thomas fled while being brought before the court for his scheduled hearing. A senior NCC official explained that the warden escorting him and a group of other inmates to court could not go after Thomas because leaving the remaining inmates unattended would have risked further escapes.
The official pointed to a severe shortage of manpower as the root cause of the incident, warning that the situation within the NCC is worsening. More than 1,000 NCC personnel are expected to retire before the end of this year, and no recruitment exercise has been planned to replace them.
Manpower Shortage Raises Concern
The admission by NCC officials that staff constraints directly hindered the pursuit of an escaped inmate raises serious questions about the capacity of the correctional service to maintain custody of inmates during out-of-facility movements such as court appearances.
With a large wave of retirements approaching and no visible plan to bring in new officers, the Edo State Command faces growing pressure to address the staffing gap before it leads to further security lapses.
