Jail Breaker Shot Dead

He was among three prisoners who jumped over the New Bell Prison fence in the early hours of yesterday in an attempted to escape.

Three inmates attempted broke jail in the Douala Central Prison at about 2:55 a.m. Wednesday, July 25. The young men, all northerners, had climbed the walls of the prison during heavy rains. Ibrahim Adjia, a bike rider born in 1989 in Maroua, received a bullet on his head after having successfully jumped over the first fence. Thirty-two years old Souaibou Guenden, a motor mechanic born in Ngaoundere, has been maimed by an iron grille on the top of the fence as he attempted to fall back having been scared by the gunshot. One of his joys which received a vertical blister continued to bleed profusely by midday yesterday. Yougouda Martin, a bike rider born in 1982 in Garoua, was arrested by two prison guards as he struggled to escape.

The three jail breakers were hardened criminals charged with aggravated theft. According to Prison Registrar, Dieudionné Engonga Mintsang, security is not a problem in the prison, but that over population, with a majority being hardened bandits who operated with firearms, explains reasons for the occasional escape attempt in the prison.

By morning yesterday, the administration and judiciary took pulse of the event during separate visits to the prison.

The corpse of Ibrahim Adjia was transferred to the Laquintinie Hospital Mortuary, while the two others were being quizzed on the issue.