NIAMEY (AFP) – Four inmates in Niamey’s main prison killed three guards Saturday, Justice Minister Marou Amadou said, a week after twin suicide bombings claimed 20 lives in the west African country.
The attack was carried out by “four individuals detained at the civilian prison of Niamey and prosecuted for terrorism,” Amadou told AFP.
Three guards were killed and three were injured, one seriously, said Amadou, who is also the government spokesman in the impoverished west African state.
Three of the inmates were overcome, he said, while not confirming an earlier assertion that the fourth inmate was still in the prison grounds.
Amadou said an investigation has been launched to determine how they obtained the weapons. They also seized a weapon from one of the guards.
A resident in the district reported shooting from the prison from early afternoon. “Everyone has locked themselves in,” he said.
Another said: “It’s panic everywhere. We were very frightened.”
Saturday’s attack came a week after twin suicide bombings on May 23, the first such attacks in Niger’s history.
An attack on the Agadez army base left 18 soldiers and one civilian dead, while a near-simultaneous bombing at French group Areva’s uranium mine killed one and injured 14.
Two jihadist groups — Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) and Signatories in Blood — claimed the attacks, saying they were in retaliation for Niger’s intervention in neighbouring Mali.