Cameroon prisons overcrowded with Boko Haram suspects

YAOUNDE
Cameroon officials say prisons are overcrowded with suspected Islamic extremists whose insurgency has spilled from Nigeria.

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

Emmanuel says that more soldiers are needed to stop inmates from endless attempts to break out of jail.
Cameroon Human Rights commission chairman Che Mutta Divine Banda says prisons are crammed with six times more people than their capacity allows.

Neighboring 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.

Nigeria recaptures ten towns from Boko Haram, says government

Nigeria's army recaptured ten towns from Boko Haram, the government said on Thursday, gaining ground in the fight against the Islamist terrorist group.

The north-eastern towns of Gabchari, Abba Jabari, Gajigana, Gajiram, Damakar, Kumaliwa, Bosso, Wanti, Jeram and Karisungul are now back under government control, said spokesman Mike Omeri.
The military already regained control over 19 other towns in the past few weeks, according to the Omeri, whose claims could not be independently verified.

"While the Nigerian military forces are recording several victories against Boko Haram, ... efforts are being intensified by regional bodies to ensure that the scourge is permanently overcome," said Omeri.

Nigeria's army is receiving back-up in the fight against Boko Haram from a multi-national task force, made up of troops from neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Boko Haram, which seeks to establish a caliphate based on its very strict interpretation of Islamic law, has been controlling towns in north-eastern Nigeria spread over an area the size of Belgium.

More than 13,000 people are estimated to have been killed by the insurgents since 2009.

Indonesia moving a Nigerian, 5 other foreigners for execution

A Nigeria and seven convicted drug smugglers will be transferred to an Indonesian prison island this week for imminent execution despite international appeals for clemency, an official said on Monday.

The Nigerian is among five men from France, Brazil, Ghana and Indonesia, and a woman from the Philippines,  will face a firing squad after being moved to Nusa Kambangan prison, Attorney General's Office spokesman Tony Spontana said, without giving exact dates. Six other drug smugglers, including five foreigners, were executed in January at the same prison, located off Indonesia's main island of Java.

Australian death row prisoner Myuran Sukumaran is escorted by police while attending a review hearing in the District Court of Denpasar in Bali.

Among the eight are Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 33, the ringleaders of a group of nine Australians arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle 8.3 kilograms (18.3 pounds) of heroin to Australia from the Indonesian resort island of Bali. The seven other members of the group — dubbed the "Bali Nine" by Australian media — have received prison sentences ranging from 20 years to life.

Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has rejected appeals by Australia's government for clemency for Chan and Sukumaran, and vowed not to grant mercy to any other drug offenders because Indonesia is suffering a "drug emergency."

Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws. On January 18, it executed six drug convicts by firing squad, including foreigners from Brazil, Malawi, Nigeria, the Netherlands and Vietnam, brushing aside last-minute appeals by foreign leaders.
There are 133 people on death row in Indonesia, including 57 for drug crimes and two convicted terrorists.