A former militant leader turned suspected kidnapper, has opened up on how he escaped from Oko Prison custody.

The suspect, Daniel Silva, 43, a native of Ekenwan village in Benin City, the Edo State capital, south south Nigeria, was charged with kidnapping a business woman and was remanded in prison custody where he escaped. He was promptly re-arrested by security personnel.

Speaking with our correspondent at a Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) facility at the Edo State Police Command where he is being detained, Silva said: “I was a former militant leader in  Benin City, and we  surrendered our guns and ammunition to the Federal Government during the amnesty programme.

“After that, I was placed on a monthly salary of  N65,000. When this was not enough, I kidnapped a business woman in Benin City so as to get some cash.

“After arrangements were made by the family of the business woman to pay the N3 million ransom I demanded, they alerted the police and I was arrested and charged to court and ordered to be remanded in prison.

“While in prison I planned with my militant men through phone calls and eight of them stormed the prison and used dynamite to blow up part of the prison. This enabled me and other inmates to escape.

“I was later re-arrested by operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad attached to the Edo State Police Command.”

The Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Folusho Ayodeji Adebanjo, told P.M.NEWS correspondent that “the suspect had been on the wanted list of the police.

“He used a fake name, Godwin Renary, to mask his identity. But that did not stop my men who were on his trail after he escaped from jail from tracking him down.

“The case has again been charged to Magistrate’s Court 8, Benin City, where he was also ordered to be remanded again at Oko Prison, Benin City.”

Read more: PM News