Nearly 900 inmates escape after Nigeria jail raid

Nearly 900 inmates escaped in a jailbreak in Abuja, Nigeria's capital city, officials said Wednesday, blaming the attack on Islamic extremist rebels.

At least 443 of the 879 escapees are still missing, a spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Service said, while hundreds of others have either been recaptured or turned themselves in at police stations. The rebels attacked the Kuje maximum prison in Abuja on Tuesday night with very high-grade explosives, killing one guard on duty. Their attack on the detention facility freed many of their members who are inmates, prison officials said. The Kuje maximum security prison had nearly 1,000 inmates including 64 suspects of the Boko Haram extremist group all of whom have escaped.