Prisoners Escape With Warder's Gun

By Olive Ejang Tebug

Eleven prisoners, Tuesday, January 24, escaped from the Kumba Production Prison after frightening a wardres with a toy gun. Out of the 11, the forces of law and order successfully caught six - Rawlins Kudi, Dieudonne Tanyi, William Ndam, Jacob Tah, Hans Bature and Samuel Ngyakwe. Meanwhile, five prisoners - Vincent Keulenku, Martin Malingo Mboh, Cletus Suh/Galius Che, Kingsly Peli and Godwin Okon are still at large, with a gun.

Speaking to The Post at her Kumba Bureau, the Senior Administrator of Prisons, Kumba, Florence Kekay Mbong, said the prisoners bolted through the fence behind the prison after pointing a wooden toy gun at Delphine Chingo, a wardress.

Kekay Mbong said out of the seven warders on guard on that Tuesday, Chingo was guarding the back section of the fence when some prisoners advanced on her and wrenched her gun from her.

Kekay said Chingo shouted after the fleeing prisoners but it was too late.The Prison Administrator recounted that immediately the prisoners broke out, the forces of law and order came to their aid and captured six of the prisoners.

An escape notice has been prepared and a manhunt is on. Kekay said when recaptured, all the escapee prisoners would be tried. She said some 328 prisoners are currently resident in the prison.

Kekay also expressed worry over the escapees in possession of a gun. "What is bothering us now are the escapees with the gun. We don't know the crime they would commit with this gun," she said. She also said an investigation is currently going on and if any laxity is discovered on Chingo's part, she would be sanctioned.

The Prison Administrator has called on the population of Kumba and Meme in general to be on the alert. In case they notice a strange person around, or in their farms, they should report to the nearest police station.When The Post contacted the SDO for Meme, Daniel Panjouono, he reserved his comments.

Comments

[willie]

Hope these guys are caught as soon as possible before they go berserk on the public. The security in Cameroon prisons today is questionable and the authority should do more to alleviate the conditions of these in mates. The living conditions in prisons today have dramatically deteriorated over the years with huge over crowding and very very poor sanitary conditions. This might be one of the reasons why prisoners are always thinking of escaping. In the past, people were sent to jail as punishment of their crime and reformed, so that when they go back to society they could fit in and would not reoffend.

[muna]

Willie,
I agree with you that prison conditions are extremly poor. However, prisoners in every country are continuosly thinking of escaping regardless of prison conditions and I'm sure each year, there are prison escapes almost in every country, even in the mighty U.S. with all its "hitech" and "security." I guess I'm trying to say that prison conditions is not neccessarily the driving factor for escape, I believe it is a contributing factor but lack of freedom is the single most important factor for prison escapes. I can give u some quotes if u need them.
muna

[Willie]

Muna,
I don’t dispute the fact that prisoners are thinking of escaping. let’s not forget that at the end of the day they are in jail signifying lack of freedom. Let’s imagine for a second that these in mates are kept under inhuman conditions with a high increase in mortality rates. They wouldn’t just be thinking of escaping sporadically, but 24/7. Every second will be dedicated to deciphering the might of an escape route even if it leads them to doom, just for the sake of at least breathing some fresh air. Ask your self the question why has there been numerous cases and very frequent in the past 14 years of in mates breaking jail?. The Buea prison was one of the most secured and some prisoners were even allowed to go out do jobs here and there. They taught these guys different sorts of crafts, which a lot of them made their livings from. The upper farms just at the foot of mount FAKO used to house a semi dairy farm and the freshest of vegi you could ever come across. What happened to them?. You see the point I’m trying to lay across is that, social services is heavily under funded. You might argue that well what is funded in Cameroon these days, but bare in mind security is one of the most important things of any society. Warders who are meant to be recruited every 1,2 or 3 years, doesn’t happen any more and the training camp there in Buea is now a sight seeing. You see when you jeopardise security,
1. the population live in total topsy turvy and fear.
2. No body will want to invest where the safeguard of their assets are not guarantied, this can lead to serious economic impact
3. The population takes the law into their own hands and apply the law of the jungle, hence leading to citizens arrest, criminals being beaten to death, burnt alive, just because they have lost confidence in the system and that is very tragic.

Amnesty international has published many reports about Cameroon jails and human rights violation. Have a glimpse at the these
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/35/057.html
http://web.amnesty.org/report2003/Cmr-summary-eng