Heavily-armed gunmen attack Nigerian prison, free hundreds of detainees – most still on the run

Over 800 detainees have been freed in Nigeria after heavily-armed assailants stormed a prison in the west of the country. The authorities managed to recapture 262 escapees, while a further 575 remain on the run.

The prison, located in Nigeria’s Oyo State, was raided overnight by a group of unknown assailants, the country’s prison service confirmed on Saturday. The attackers engaged in a firefight with the prison guards, forcing their way in by blowing holes in the facility’s walls with explosives.

The attackers focused only on freeing pre-trial detainees, with convicted prisoners remaining in their cells. The jail housed only 64 convicts, all of whom remain incarcerated. It was not immediately clear whether the prison guards sustained any casualties during the attack.

“While all the awaiting trial detainees were forced out of custody, the cells housing the convicts and the female inmates were not vandalized,” the prison service said.

All in all, more than 800 detainees were freed during the raid. The authorities managed to catch 262 of them, while a further 575 escapees remain on the run, according to the official figures.

While it was not immediately clear what prompted the raid or who was behind it, armed attacks on correctional facilities is a common occurrence in the West African country, riddled by assorted security issues including separatist movements and Islamist insurgencies.

Another prison raid occurred in Kogi State last month, where more than 260 prisoners were freed by an armed group by force. A soldier and a police officer were killed during that raid. One of Nigeria’s largest prison raids happened in the southeastern Imo State in April. Back then, nearly 2,000 inmates were freed from a local correctional facility during an armed attack.

https://www.rt.com/news/538294-nigeria-prison-break-attack/

Fire Breaks Out At Strategic Iranian Port On Persian Gulf

On October 23, a massive fire broke out at one of the electricity stations in the port of Bandar Abbas on Iran’s southern coast.

Iranian firefighters responded quickly to the fire, preventing it from spreading any further. No casualties have been reported, so far. The massive fire resulted in a blackout in several districts in Bandar Abbas city, the capital of the Hormozgān province.

Some Iranian sources claimed that a “blast” was heard before the fire. Iranian authorities have not commented on the issue, yet.

The port fire was likely caused by a technical failure or electricity overload. Nevertheless, the possibility of sabotage can’t be ruled out.

Many strategic facilities in Iran experienced unexplained fires or explosions this year. Sabotage was suspected in several cases.

In September, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that two of its members were killed in an explosion at a “research self-sufficiency center” located in the outskirts of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Israeli sources claimed that the center was a secret missile base.

https://southfront.org/fire-breaks-out-at-strategic-iranian-port-on-persian-gulf-videos/

Gladys Berejiklian’s dodgy defence at ICAC destroyed by the smoking gun memo to former NSW Premier Mike Baird

Gladys Berejiklian’s scandalous defence, which her barrister has been pushing at the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) during the week, that she did not act corruptly in awarding a $5.5 million grant for the electorate of her former secret boyfriend Daryl Maguire, Wagga Wagga, because she was only pork-barrelling has come unstuck by a smoking gun memo.

ICAC are investigating $35.5 million in grants, including $5.5 million issued to the Australian Clay Target Association, that Gladys Berejiklian approved for the seat of Wagga Wagga when she was treasurer before becoming premier in January 2017.

The memo was sent to former NSW Premier Mike Baird from his then advisor Nigel Blunden on the 12-12-16 which makes it clear the grant was dodgy and it couldn’t have been pork-barrelling because Mr Blunden suggests that they would be better off spending the money elsewhere to pork-barrel as per below where he says at the end of the memo “At the very least, let’s target our marginal seats, not one of our safest,”

One of the other lines that is most damming is:

They should go away, test the assumptions, verify the business case and then come back when it’s solid. (this was suggested and it was taken off the agenda, but Daryl fired up and Gladys put it back on)

What the comment “let’s target our marginal seats, not one of our safest” from Nigel Blunden to former NSW Premier Mike Baird also shows is how openly and blatantly corrupt Mike Baird and his staff were.

I watched a fair bit on the ICAC hearing during the week and published the below video on Wednesday (20/10/21) regarding Gladys Berejiklian’s defence at ICAC. One of her barristers, Sophie Callan, is claiming Gladys Berejiklian wasn’t acting corruptly she was just pork-barrelling which is a disgraceful defence and shows how desperate Gladys is. Sophie Callan didn’t use the term “pork-barrelling”, she used the words “political purposes” to describe the $5.5 million grant, which is the polite way of saying pork-barrelling.

https://kangaroocourtofaustralia.com/2021/10/24/gladys-berejiklians-dodgy-defence-at-icac-destroyed-by-the-smoking-gun-memo-to-former-nsw-premier-mike-baird/

https://kangaroocourtofaustralia.com/2021/10/24/gladys-berejiklians-dodgy-defence-at-icac-destroyed-by-the-smoking-gun-memo-to-former-nsw-premier-mike-baird/