At least 15 prisoners have broken out of the Nsukka Prison in Enugu state.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, quoted a prison source as saying that “The inmates carefully opened their cells and scaled the perimeter fence of the prisons.”

“Before prison officials on night duty knew what was happening, about 15 inmates had escaped,” the source added.

A prison controller, Lawrence Okonkwo, confirmed the jailbreak but did not give further information.

“Yes there was a jailbreak last night in Nsukka prison but I am not in a position to say how many prisoners escaped.

“We are expecting the Enugu state prisons controller, Mr Isaiah Amariri, in Nsukka prison so that we brief him on what happened last night. He will be the one to tell the public the number of inmates that escaped, the re-arrested ones and efforts put in place to arrest those still on the run,” Okonkwo said.

Unconfirmed reports however have it that two of the escaped prisoners had been rearrested.

Officials of the Nigeria Prisons Service were seen in parts of Nsukka and its environs on Wednesday in search of the fleeing prisoners.

The Nsukka prison was reportedly built to harbour about 180 prisoners but currently, almost 500 inmates are incarcerated in the facility.

There has been recent incidences of jailbreaks in the Kuje Prison in Abuja and in the Koton Karfe prisons in Kogi State.