Cameroon prisons overstretched with 30,000 B’Haram insurgents

Cameroon officials said yesterday that their prisons are overcrowded with suspected Boko Haram militants whose insurgency has spilled from Nigeria.

Maroua Central Prison Registrar, Ngeh Emmanuel, said 30,000 people have been detained in 25 prisons in Cameroon since May 2014. He said the number is up from 22,000 detained before.

Emmanuel said more soldiers are needed to stop inmates from endless attempts to break out of jail.

Cameroon Human Rights Commission Chairman, Che Mutta Divine Banda, said prisons are crammed with six times more people than their capacity allows.

Neighbouring countries increasingly have been drawn into Nigeria’s 5-year Islamic uprising, which has killed thousands and driven 1.6 million people from their homes, including across borders into Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Boko Haram has been recruiting fighters in all three countries.