Police are searching for Nigerian national Ola Abimbola, who escaped from HMP Ford last month while serving a 21-year sentence for kidnap and grievous bodily harm.
A Nigerian prisoner, Ola Abimbola, is being hunted by UK police after escaping from HMP Ford open prison nearly a month ago, according to Daily Mail reporting.
Abimbola, 36, was serving a 21-year sentence for kidnap, grievous bodily harm (GBH), and possession of an offensive weapon when he allegedly walked out of the Sussex prison on October 10. Authorities say he has not been seen since. Sussex Police confirmed they are “working with partners to find him.”
He is the second foreign national currently on the run, following Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, who was mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth on October 29. The government is facing mounting criticism over repeated wrongful releases and escapes from open prisons.
Mark Drury of the Prison Governors’ Association said there has been a “sudden rise in absconders” linked to overcrowding, noting that “there are a large number of prisoners in open prisons now we would not have considered suitable two or three years ago.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the incidents as “intolerable,” expressing anger and frustration but defended Justice Secretary David Lammy over the continuing prison management crisis.