An undisclosed number of inmates were yesterday feared dead and several others left with varying degrees of injuries following an attempted jail break at the Kirirkiri Medium Prison, Apapa area of Lagos.

Although the circumstances leading to the incident were unclear, the attempted jail break occurred about 4pm when some of the inmates attempted to overpower the prison officials and scale the huge gates.

According to an eyewitness account, the stillness of the afternoon was broken by sporadic sounds of gunshots and screams from inside the prison.

Sources inside the prison told our press crew that most of the inmates were forced into their rooms and a secure lockdown done to prevent those inside from assisting the jail breakers to overpower the prison officials.

Immediately the fracas ensued, some of the armed security personnel stationed outside the prison with well trained sniffer dogs were deployed inside while others remained at alert outside.

To quell the situation, personnel of the Nigerian Navy (NN), Navy Town, and the Kirikiri Police Station were said to have been called in to assist the men of the Nigerian Prison Service safeguard the massive gates of the prison.

When contacted, the Lagos State Police Command Prison Public Relations Officer, Biyi Jeje, he claimed ignorance and promised to find out.

Subsequent attempts to reach him again proved abortive as he neither picked the calls nor replied the text message also sent to his phone.

However, security personnel who spoke on strict conditions of anonymity told our press crew that no inmate was shot; rather the gunshots were to deter them from successfully executing their plans.

He said, "We were called in after the situation began. We did not shoot anyone dead rather the shots were to deter them from succeeding. It is true however that some of them sustained bodily injuries.

"But that could not be prevented because we were forced to use show of force to quell the situation. This was because those that were not even in the know of the plot tried to take advantage of the chaos and escape.

"With the help of sister services, the situation is now calm and peace has been restored but we are still stationed there and we are at high alert. The injured will be treated accordingly."