"Cœur D’Afrique" helps release 9 inmates

Roger Milla’s Foundation paid their fines required to benefit from the recent presidential clemency.

Nine inmates (one minor, one woman and seven men) of the Buea Central Prison walked out of incarceration as freed persons last Thursday, July 10, 2014.

This was during a ceremony organised in the prison premises by Albert Roger Milla’s Foundation - Coeur D’Afrique - to celebrate its ninth anniversary.

The inmates who had benefitted from the Presidential clemency of February 18, 2014 reducing prison terms, had since then remained in jail for lack of money to pay financial fines which summed to FCFA 607,000.

Coeur D’Afrique paid the money and equally handed working tools including stick brushes, buckets, detergents, machetes, digging axes and spades to the Buea Central Prison.

Welcoming the ace footballer and Cameroon's Roving Ambassador, Albert Roger Milla, and other administrative authorities, Pombouo Fopa Thierry Joel, Administrator of the Buea Central Prison, highlighted some difficulties of the Prison such as overcrowding and ill health.

He thanked Coeur D’Afrique for the humanitarian gesture. “The liberation of the nine inmates will in a way decongest the prison and the tools are a great relief to us especially for prison sanitation and agricultural activities.

This gesture by Coeur D’Afrique is worth emulating by other stakeholders.”

He told His Excellency Roger Milla and his Foundation. The Buea Central Prison Boss ended by pleading with Coeur D’Afrique to extend their goodwill to other detention centres across the country.

While handing the release decisions to the inmates, the Attorney General for the South West Region, Fonkwe Joseph Fongang, cautioned them to be good and law-abiding citizens of Cameroon.

One of the freed inmates, Alain Emmanuel Fru, on behalf of his freed mates saluted Roger Milla’s Coeur D’Afrique for coming to their rescue.

He recounted how they had remained in jail because they lacked money to pay their fines in order to be discharged.

On hand were medical doctors of Coeur D’Afrique with the prison’s medical team who conducted examinations of the inmates and offered medication.

Complicated cases were referred to Buea Regional Hospital. The event was crowned with a football encounter. The "Adonial FC" outsmarted "Jesus Christ FC".