Lagos, Nov 12 (IANS): The Nigerian government said that over 3,000 inmates are yet to be recaptured following recent jailbreaks in the most populous African country.

A total of 4,860 inmates had escaped during attacks on the country's custodial centres since last year, and only 984 of them have been rearrested so far, with 3,876 inmates still at large, Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola told reporters here.

To aid the active tracking of the fleeing inmates, the Minister said the government had taken the biometrics of all inmates in the country, hoping this will be useful for their recapture, reports Xinhua news agency.

In recent months, there have been a series of gunmen attacks across Nigeria, including attacks on security facilities like police stations and custodial centres.

On October 22, 837 inmates awaiting trial escaped from the Medium Security Custodial Center in the Abolongo area of the southwestern state of Oyo following an attack on the centre, according to a statement by the Nigerian Correctional Service.

Aregbesola said that Nigeria currently has a total of 69,680 inmates, with 50,223 still awaiting trials.