Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has revealed that of the 4,860 recorded prisoners who have escaped from various custodial centres nationwide since 2020 till date, 954 have been recaptured; leaving 3,906 on the run.

This is as he affirmed that his ministry, as well as the National Identity Management Commission, has adequate data on all inmates in the country; adding that escaped inmates can run but cannot hide for long.

Aregbesola said this on Thursday during a media briefing organised by the Presidential Media Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to him, the biometrics of all custodial inmates in the country have been taken, which he said will enable the escapees to be tracked and rearrested.

He said, “This is the advantage of the state. How long can they continue to run from the state? The state is a patient vulture. You can run but you cannot hide. We have their biometrics. Whenever and wherever they appear to transact any business, their cover will be blown.

“I will also like to inform Nigerians that we have captured the biometric information of all inmates in the facilities of Nigeria Correctional Service working in partnership with the Nigerian Identity Management Commission.

“Therefore, we have the capacity and are tracking all escapees from our facilities. In addition, we are working with and have shared the details of escapees with INTERPOL, to check the risks of cross border movements.”