Orock Eta
30 June 2008
As we went to press on sunday, June 29, there was news of inmates at the Douala Central Prison (New Bell), who had organized and orchestrated a mass escape.
Armed with two automatic pistols, the inmates took advantage of the visiting hours to stage their escape from the prison, but were prevented by a security wall mounted by a detachment of the police and gendarmerie who had been called in.
Seventeen of the inmates were shot dead and others seriously wounded. Unconfirmed sources say some of them successfully escaped. The bodies of the victims killed are currently at the Douala Laquantinie hospital mortuary. Most of those killed are inmates who are serving long jail terms and others who had been sentenced to death.
Similar mass escapes of inmates had occurred in various Prison Centres around the country. On Sunday, August 14, 2005, some eight escapees were shot and arrested at the Buea central prison. This is the forth time inmates of the new bell prison are attempting to escape, after December 2007 and twice in March 2008.
Like many others, the Douala new bell prison was built in 1933 with a maximum capacity of 800 prisoners but seventy five years latter, the prison has not witnessed any major renovation and presently is host to about 3500 inmates.
In 2007 after the warders went on rampage in demand for better working conditions, the European Union made an FCFA 2 billion donation to renovate various prisons in Cameroon.
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