At least 600 inmates escaped in a jailbreak in Nigeria's capital city, officials said Wednesday, blaming the attack on Islamic extremist rebels.
About 300 have been recaptured, authorities said. The "very determined" rebels attacked the Kuje maximum prison in Abuja on Tuesday night with "very high-grade explosives," killing one guard on duty, according to Shuaib Belgore, permanent secretary of Nigeria's Ministry of Interior.
Explosions and gunfire were heard at about 10 p.M. In the Kuje area of Abuja when the attackers arrived and forced their way into the prison through a hole created by the explosives.
The Islamic extremist rebels who attacked the prison have waged an insurgency in the country's northeast for over a decade.
Their attack on the detention facility freed many of their members who are inmates, prison officials said.
"We understand they are Boko Haram. They came specifically for their co-conspirators," said Belgore.
"Right now, we have retrieved about 300 out of about 600 that got out of the jail."