ABUJA - Gunmen armed with dynamites and high- power firearms on late Sunday stormed a prison in Nigeria's north central Kogi State and freed 50 inmates at the facility, national police said Monday.

"Up to 50 inmates escaped," spokesperson of the Nigeria police Emmanuel Ojukwu told reporters, adding the attackers blew up the facility with dynamite late Sunday.

However, local residents said more than 144 inmates escaped from the facility as the gunmen shot sporadically toward the Nigeria Federal Prison premises in Koton-Karfe area of the province.

According to Sulaimon Yusuf, a resident who witnessed the incident, the shooting lasted more than 30 minutes as security operatives attempted to repel the attack.

It is unclear if the attack was a perpetration of Boko Haram, a terror group which proves to be a major security threat in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country.

In February 2012, Boko Haram fighters stormed the same facility and threw grenades and shot heavily at the prison workers before freeing more than 200 inmates suspected to be members of the terror group.

Police said they have commenced an investigation on Sunday's incident and assured the perpetrators will be brought to book.