Margibi — Although an investigation is ongoing into Sunday's (September 8, 2024) jailbreak, which led to 50 prisoners escaping the Kakata Central Prison in Margibi County, sources from within the prison compound have told The NEW DAWN that no female was among the escapees.
According to sources, the all-male prisoners late Sunday angrily moved toward the main entrance of the Kakata Central Prison that was manned during the night of the escape by only a guard and overpowered the guard in their desperate quest for freedom.
Though the Superintendent of the Kakata Central Prison is yet to respond to media inquiries following the escape, The New Dawn gathers that the detainees, both inmates and convicts, allegedly broke locks to the iron gate of cells in which they were being held and made their way out.
Three of the escapees were rearrested on Sunday and Monday respectively this week - two picked up in Kakata and another caught in Compound District#4, Margibi County.
Prison authorities are said to have launched a hot pursuit for the remaining 47 prisoners of whom most of them are reported to be in deplorable health conditions.
Recently, a drug (Kush) case involving three suspects transferred from the RIA Magisterial Court in Harbel to the 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Kakata, Margibi County prompted a burglary at the court, immediately after the first jury trial.
The burglars made away with an unspecified quantity of Kush that was kept at the court, as evidence, while the suspects were being held at the Kakata Central Prison.
The worth of the drug initially nabbed is investigated by this paper to be in the neighborhood of 30 Million Liberian Dollars.
Since then, neither the court, Police or LDEA in the county has been able to arrest perpetrators of the burglary despite the police claim to still be investigating.
The burglary transpired amid rumors that the court was allegedly working in close connection with prison authorities to design strategy for the release of the three suspects prior to Sunday's reported jailbreak.
The incident has left residents of Kakata panicking with the prison superintendent tightlipped, while the 13th Judicial Circuit Court referred this paper to the Supreme Court of Liberia for any inquiry regarding the burglary.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) in Monrovia has debunked media claims that approximately 100 inmates escaped from the Kakata Prison Compound, clarifying that the escapees were 47.
Making the clarification Tuesday, September 10, 2024 at the Ministry of Information, Culture Affairs and Tourism's regular press briefing in Monrovia, Mrs. Abigail T. Gbessagee, Media Specialist and Consultant for the Ministry of Justice said, the jailbreak has been widely discussed on local radio and social media with some media outlets reporting wrong account of what happened.
According to Mrs. Gbessagee, on Sunday evening, the prison superintendent received intelligence that an inmate in one of the blocks had a cell phone, which is prohibited.
She says a search of the block was conducted and the phone uncovered, but when the inmates were asked to return to their cells, they refused, leading to a commotion.
According to her, with only 13 correction officers on duty that evening against 47 inmates, the officers were overpowered, allowing the inmates to escape.
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She discloses that charges against the escapes, including robbery, attempted murder, disorderly conduct, manslaughter, misapplication of property, murder, statutory rape, terrorist threats, theft, and drug-related crimes. Their ages range from 18 to 29.
She further reveals that initial investigations suggest a breach in the prison's security system as a factor in the escape, as during the incident, only 14 correction officers were present at the prison.
She confirms that the Ministry of Justice in collaboration with the Liberia National Police, has launched a search operation for the escaping inmates, with additional officers being deployed, while strategic locations across the country are being monitored.
The government is urging the public to report any information about the escapees and warns that harboring or aiding escaped inmates is a criminal offense.
