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Yaoundé - At least 80 inmates in Cameroon's restive English-speaking northwest escaped after gunmen stormed their prison overnight, an informed source told AFP Wednesday. "There were about a hundred people in the prison and at least 80 have gone," said a source close to security forces in the town of Wum, more than 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of the regional centre Bamenda.

"The gunmen attacked under cover of darkness," the source said, using a ladder to scale the rear wall before battering down the prisoners' cell doors.

English-speaking separatists want to create an independent state, Ambazonia and vow that a presidential election slated for October 7 will not go ahead in their regions.

Eight candidates are running against 85-year-old incumbent Paul Biya, who has ruled the country for 35 years and is seeking a seventh straight term in office.

Separatists say they have suffered years of discrimination at the hands of the French-speaking majority in Cameroon, and two years of violence in western English-speaking regions have killed hundreds of people and displaced about 200,000.

According to International Crisis Group, 170 members of the security forces and "at least 400 civilians" have died in the conflict. Separatists have not issued a reliable toll.

AFP </s> Some unknown gunmen invaded Minna Medium Security Prison on Sunday night, killing a prison officer and a commercial motorcyclist who conveyed him to night duty.

It was learnt that the gunmen came to the prison premises at about 8-9pm, shooting for over one hour to scare away residents living around the area.

Our correspondent gathered that the gunmen attacked the prison and gained access after exchange of fire with prison armed men, which led to the death of prison officer and the commercial motorcyclist.

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One of the residents of Kafin-Teller where the prison is situated, Mohammed Umaru, told our correspondent that most of the prisoners that escaped during the incident came back on their own.

Umaru alleged that the prison premises is “porous,” and made it possible for the gunmen to gain access .

“I saw them coming out from one Hilux van, Honda Civic and Golf cars ordering everybody in our community to go inside our houses, threatening to shoot us,” he stated.

When contacted, the Nigerian Prison Service Public Relations Officer, Raibu Shuaibu, confirmed the incident, saying that through the combined efforts of all security agencies in the state, seven prisoners who attempted to escape have been captured and returned to the prison.

The prison authority in Minna also said it was profiling the number of fleeing inmates to ascertain the escaped prisoners.

Meanwhile, normalcy has returned and security agencies are working together to ensure that fleeing inmates are recaptured.

It may be recalled that in December 2014 in the same prison, 270 inmates reportedly escaped from custody. </s> Gunmen from a Christian sect have stormed a prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, freeing their leader and about 50 other inmates, a government spokesman says.

Shots were fired and vehicles torched as Ne Muanda Nsemi was freed from the jail in Kinshasa, witnesses said.

Police are suspected to have shot dead several prisoners, witnesses added.

Mr Nsemi is a self-styled prophet and the leader of an outlawed group seeking to revive the ancient Kongo kingdom.

He was arrested, along with his three wives and son, in March following clashes between his supporters and police.

Mr Nsemi leads the Bundu dia Kongo movement, which is campaigning to restore a monarchy in parts of DR Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Angola and Gabon.

He was an MP when he was arrested in Kinshasa after police accused him of inciting violence.

“Followers of the Bundu Dia Kongo attacked Makala prison at dawn and broke out around 50 prisoners including their guru, Ne Muanda Nsemi,” government spokesman Lambert Mende said, AFP news agency reports.

A major operation is underway in Kinshasa to recapture the prisoners, reports the BBC’s Mbelechi Msoshi from the city.

He saw Red Cross officials loading the bodies of several prisoners into vehicles and and transporting them to the morgue.

In January 2016, every prisoner except one escaped from a jail in eastern DR Congo. They included murder and rape convicts.

Rights groups say prisons in the country are over-crowded and badly guarded. BBC News </s> 182 out of the 210 prisoners in the Minna Medium Security Prison are at large following the attack on the facility, the Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Dambazau, disclosed on Monday.

Gunmen had on Sunday night invaded the Minna Medium Security Prison killing one prison officer and an okada rider that conveyed him to the facility.

It was learnt that the gunmen came to the prison premises about 9pm, shooting sporadically for over one hour to scare away residents.

Our correspondent gathered that they attacked the prison and gained access after an exchange of fire with armed prison officials.

A resident of Kafin-Teller where the prison is situated, Mohammed Umaru, told our correspondent that some of the prisoners that escaped during the incident came back on their own.

According to him, most of them have almost concluded their jail terms and have to come back to avoid extension.

Addressing journalists after assessing the prison in Minna, Dambazau said that two prisoners whose death warrants were to be signed by Governor Abubakar Bello were among the escapees.

“Among the escapees were two condemned criminals whose death warrants were supposed to have been signed by the governor of Niger State today. That is probably part of the motivation for this prison break. However, the investigation will bring out most of these.”

The minister blamed the jailbreak on security gaps, saying, “The visit revealed some security gaps which must be tackled to prevent reoccurrence.”

He said a committee had been set up to investigate the incident, adding that the ministry would work with the committee’s report.

Meanwhile, the Comptroller General of Nigerian Prisons Service, Ja’afaru Ahmed, has debunked the rumour that the prison was attacked because it had Boko Haram inmates.

“There is no Boko Haram suspect in the Minna prison facility. We do not know who attacked the prison yet but investigations will reveal it.”

Ahmed did not disclose how the gunmen gained access into the prison, the number of officials on duty and those injured.

The state Governor, Abubakar Bello, described the incident as unfortunate, adding that the state was set to partner with the Federal Government towards forestalling reoccurrence.

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 All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH. </s> The prison guards in France are in hospital after they were attacked at Borgo jail on the island of Corsica when three prisoners charged at them. Prison guards have also clashed with riot police during a strike over their security concerns. The clash happened outside a prison close to Paris and highlighted the security problems and radicalisation inside the overcrowded French facilities.

French police were forced to fire tear gas to break up a picket line of striking prison guards outside Europe’s biggest prison. Around 150 prison guards had set up a wall of burning tyres to stop their colleagues from getting to work.

The unions decided to continue with industrial action despite talks to resolve the issues and a pledge made by President Emmanuel Macron to improve security at French prisons. Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet described it as "intolerable" and flew to Corsica to visit the prison on Friday afternoon.

Around 500 of the 70,000 inmates in French prisons have been sentenced for crimes connected with Islamist terror. One of the guards has suffered a stab wound to the neck during the knife attack and the other to the head, but neither of their lives are in danger.

Maxime Coustie, a representative of the union l'Ufap-Unsa Justice, said: ”This is a big assault, one of the two guards was unconscious and the attacker is a prisoner who already was known for his bad behaviour." According to Ms Coustie, one of the attackers shouted “Allah Akbar” when committing the attack. One of the attackers was in his thirties and serving a sentence for intentional assault, which resulted in death without intent following an incident in a disco in 2012.

There have been three other attacks in the same prison in Corsica, which has raised fears about how French prison authorities deal with dangerous prisoners. The guards have accused the government of doing too little to counter the spiralling violence and Islamist activism inside the overcrowded jails. Talking of the clashes with the police, jai guard Thibult Capelle said: “We're fed up. We're taking a thumping inside and now we're being thumped outside.” The protests at Fleury Marogis prison and at many other prisons began a week ago, after an Islamist militant jailed over the killing of 21 people in Tunisia in 2000 slashed guards on the head and torso with a pair of scissors in northern France. </s> Separatists in Cameroon’s restive English speaking regions staged a prison break leading to the escape of about 70 prisoners, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

The incident took place in Wum, a town located north of the regional capital Bamenda. Witnesses say the preceding the prison break was exchange of gunfire at the town’s prison lasting several hours.

They added that the mastermind of the attack sustained gunshot wounds but was but was carried away by members of his team.

This becomes the second such incident in under two months. In late July 2018, over 160 inmates in the Ndop prisons were released after an attack by separatists.

At the time, William Benedict Emvoutu Mbita, head of the department of Ngoketunjia where Ndop is located confirmed that some escapees had voluntarily returned and were due to be transferred to the regional capital, Bamenda.

The attackers who “fired from everywhere”, were able to “break the gates of the prison” before “setting fire to all the buildings,“he added, stressing that they had brought fuel to cause the fire.

Armed separatists since October last year have faced off with state security forces in an increasingly deteriorating security situation in the Anglophone regions – the North-West and South-West. </s> Philippines jail stormed by armed men, hundreds of prisoners escape

Updated

Authorities in the Philippines are hunting for more than 100 prisoners who escaped a jail on the island of Mindanao last night, after armed men stormed the facility.

The late-night breakout occurred in Kidapawan City, near President Rodrigo Duterte's home town of Davao.

Six of the 158 escapees were killed in firefights with pursuing police and army troops, while eight others were caught and returned to the facility, said senior inspector Xavier Solda, spokesman for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

Army troops and police were searching for the others.

Inspector Solda said the heavily armed gunmen emerged from a forest and attacked the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan under the cover of darkness.

Prison officials said the majority of inmates escaped from the back of the jail as guards were fighting off attackers at the front.

Kidapawan police chief Superintendent Leo Ajero said gunfire continued for hours after the attack as army troops and police, some in armoured tanks, hunted through the surrounding forests for the escaped inmates and the gunmen who freed them.

Acting Provincial Jail Warden Superintendent Peter John Bongngat said the attackers were suspected to include members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and guerrillas who broke away from the main Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has signed a peace deal with the Government.

'We heard the gunfire and we sprang into action'

Local village leader Alexander Austria said he and his men captured one of the men.

He said the exchanges of gunfire woke his village, which was several kilometres from the prison, and he immediately posted guards because of worries the attackers and escaped inmates could enter the village.

"We heard the gunfire and we sprang into action to guard our village," Mr Austria said.

"We were afraid the escapees could try to enter our village to hide or take hostages."

The jail held more than 1,500 inmates.

Philippines prisons had a major overcrowding problem even before Mr Duterte began his brutal crackdown on drug users and alleged dealers.

AP

Topics: crime, law-crime-and-justice, unrest-conflict-and-war, philippines

First posted </s> Three accomplices, who reportedly had Kalashnikovs, extracted Redoine Faïd from the Seine-et-Marne prison on Sunday.

According to sources, the gunmen arrived at the entrance of the prison to create a diversion.

Simultaneously, a helicopter landed in the prison courtyard, which was not covered by any nets. Gunmen then took Faid from the visiting room and fled in the helicopter.

The helicopter was found burnt out in Gonesse, a northeastern suburb in Paris. Police later found a burnt out black Renault, suspected of being the getaway car, in Aulnay-sous-Bois, another suburb of the French capital.

The 46-year-old is serving a 25-year sentence for a failed cash-transport van robbery in 2010 during which a police officer was killed.

Jean-François Forget, secretary general of the country's Penitentiary Union, said the prisoner “was in an isolation ward that had no special surveillance measures.”

This is Faïd's second prison break — in 2013 he escaped less than half an hour before arriving at a prison in northern France.

In that escape, he took four prison wardens hostage and blasted a number of doors with explosives before fleeing in two getaway cars.

He was on the run for six weeks before police captured him in a hotel with an accomplice.

In 2009 Faïd wrote a book about his past and rise as a criminal in Paris' suburbs. Faïd said he was inspired by American films such as Scarface and Heat. </s> The Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, has visited the Medium Security Prisons in Minna, the Niger State capital, where there was a jailbreak.

The visit of the Minister follows after gunmen attacked the prison on Sunday night in the Tunga area of Minna Metropolis.

Two persons, a prison warder and a commercial motorcyclist, were killed in the process of the jailbreak.

Confirming the incident to Channels Television, spokesperson of the prison service in Niger State, Rabiu Shuaibu, “The unfortunate incident was perpetrated by armed criminals who attacked the prison and gained access after an exchange of fire with prison armed men.

“This led to the death of a prison officer and an Okada rider who convey a prison officer on night duty.

“The number of prisoners on the flee is still being compiled but some of the fleeing prisoners have been rearrested.

“The Prison authority in Minna is profiling the number of fleeing inmates to ascertain the escaped prisoners. So far, through the combined effort of all security agencies in the state, seven prisoners who attempted to escape have been recaptured and returned to the prison.”

The prison service has since called on residents of the area to go about their normal activities noting that normalcy has returned and security agencies are working to ensure that fleeing inmates are recaptured.
Gunmen storm a prison in Cameroon, releasing up to 80 prisoners.