Garoua Prison strike: 4 inmates dead, 40 injured

Another mutiny occurred in the Garoua Central prison just one year after the last one. Inmates of the central prison of the capital of the Northern Region initiated a strike to demand better living conditions. On the instruction of the governor, the police intervened. The results reported four dead and forty wounded.

L’Oeil du Sahel of 13 March 2016, informs that gunfire from the penitentiary was heard yesterday in the early hours of the morning. “… It was nearly 800 heavily armed members of the BIR, the GPIGN, gendarmerie, police and soldiers that stormed the prison. This forceful intervention was the culmination of a strike by prisoners that started since Wednesday, March 9, 2016 “.

That day, some of the 1758 detainees had undertaken to besiege the main courtyard of the prison, complaining about the sweltering heat inside the cells. They took the opportunity to demand better conditions.

“Given the situation, the manager Francis Wantoh decided, on the instruction of the governor of the northern region, Jean Edi’i Abate, to take special measures. 43 ceiling fans were purchased of FCFA 850,000. Better still, on Thursday, March 10, 2016, it was decided to increase the supply of water to the prisoners, “writes our colleague.

But inmates rejected these measures they consider inadequate. To believe a prison guard whose identity remained secret, prisoners then demanded the arrival of the Prosecutor at the Court of Appeal to expedite their cases. They thus refused to return to their cells as requested by the manager.

L’Oeil du Sahel states that “In the day of Saturday, March 12, 2016, while they were still on strike, a brawl was triggered between prisoners. The detainee Hessana, born around 1960 and originally from Guider, was beaten to death. His executioners prevented the prison doctor to intervene to rescue him. He died after two hours. Another detainee escaped with a severe fracture of the tibia. “

This was too much for the manager who seized the governor again. “Jean Edi’i Abate met his staff on the evening of March 12 and took the decision to forcibly return the prisoners to their cells.” Hence the intervention of security forces on Sunday. The assault made three dead, 40 wounded on prisoners side and seven on the side of law enforcement forces, the newspaper said.

The last mutiny at the prison of Garoua was held on 29 March 2015. The origin is always the problem of prison conditions. Designed to accommodate 500 inmates, it has 1758, including 1022 warned detainees.