Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has said that the recent jailbreaks in some parts of the country are not enough reasons for him to resign.

Aregbesola said this on Wednesday while addressing State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council’s meeting presided over by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The minister said the jailbreaks were not due to lack of preparedness, but were occasioned by a series of other factors.

He added that the Federal Government is doing everything necessary to make the prisons impenetrable.

He said, “Imo was in April this year. Kabba was in September. Abologo was in October and Jos was in November. Those captured the attacks.

“As painful as those attacks were, nobody will really want the end of justice to be so vulnerable. The custodial facilities are the tip end of the justice administration. So, morally, the state owes itself the responsibility of safe custody that must not be violated.

“On that account alone, we must appreciate the enormity of any successful attack on custodial facilities, and so do I. But I want us to put this thing in the context of our security situation.”

He said that when the government’s best does not suffice, it is no longer a question of its failure to prepare or lack of preparedness. It is just that at that instance, the prison operatives could not hold the defence and several factors are responsible.

“What I can assure Nigerians is this. Yes, as contextual as these attacks and the successes such criminals are having, we are upping our game and we will not allow it, we will prevent any such opportunistic attack and even make it impossible. And that is what the state must do.

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“We are working with all arms of government, particularly the security to make our custodial facilities impregnable. We will not rest until that is achieved. That’s the assurance I shall give to Nigerians.

“As to whether it calls for my resignation, I still don’t see any need for that because it’s not for lack of preparedness that the attacks were successful. No!” he said.

Meanwhile, the FEC has approved N965.9m for the purchase of 49 operational vehicles for use by the Nigerian Correctional Service.

According to Aregbesola, the vehicles, which would be procured from local manufacturers, would complement the ones already in use by the service.

“The Nigerian Correctional Service through the Ministry of Interior presented a memo to council and obtained approval to spend the sum of N965,902,524.58 to procure 49 operational and Green Maria vehicles.

“These 49 vehicles will complement the 513 operational and Green Maria vehicles already purchased between 2016 and 2020. This does not in any way mean that we have met the vehicle needs of the Nigerian Correctional Service but noting that since the advent of this administration, concerted effort and commitment is being made to ensure that the Correctional Service is provisioned with operational tools to meet its mandate of keeping the facilities safe as well as having the logistics to move inmates from the facilities to the over 5022 courts scattered all over Nigeria,” he said.