54 of the 175 prisoners who escaped from jail in Akure, the capital city of Ondo State in southwestern Nigeria
capital have been recaptured by the Nigerian security forces.
The prisoners escaped after more than 20 gunmen used dynamite to gain access to the medium security jail near a military base in Akure.
Two civilians were reportedly killed during the operation in the early hours of
Sunday.
Although the identities of those who facilitated the jailbreak remain unknown, authorities deny that Islamist militants of the Boko Haram group were behind the raid.
The group of violent Islamic extremists known as Boko Haram, which launched an insurgency in northern part of the country in 2009, has been behind several prison raids within Nigeria in recent years.
According to reports, the authorities sometimes imprison those suspected of having Boko Haram connections in other parts of Nigeria. It is unclear if there were any members of the outlawed group in the Akure prison at the time of the jailbreak.
Last year, Boko Haram said it was behind the raid on a jail in central Kogi state, which neighbours Ondo, when armed men used bombs and heavy gunfire to free seven of its members, allowing many other prisoners to escape at the same time.
It was further reported that sources in Olokuta prison said the gunmen wanted to free suspects arrested during a bank robbery in Akure a year ago.