Five inmates at a prison in Ivory Coast were killed during a routine search that escalated into a violent confrontation, authorities reported on Wednesday.
According to prosecutor Abel Nangbelé Yeo, prisoners in Bouaké, the nation’s second-largest city, responded with “hostility” during a routine contraband search on Tuesday. The statement indicated that five inmates lost their lives and 29 individuals, which included six prison officers and 23 inmates, sustained injuries.
The statement detailed that when security personnel arrived at the facility, they were assaulted by inmates wielding clubs, machetes, and other blunt instruments. The officers discharged warning shots “to facilitate their retreat,” the statement noted, but did not elaborate on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the inmates.
During the operation, officers confiscated blocks of cannabis, Tramadol tablets, mobile phones, and three grenades.
Ivory Coast has faced criticism from human rights organizations and the United Nations regarding its prison conditions.
Last year, the UN Committee against Torture raised concerns about the “very high rate” of overcrowding in Côte d’Ivoire’s prisons and condemned the conditions of detention, which included inadequate hygiene, poor ventilation, and insufficient food and water. They also expressed alarm over “the extent of violence in prisons.”
Earlier this year, a prisoner died while attempting to escape from Bouaké prison. The public prosecutor’s office announced that it has initiated an investigation into the events of Tuesday.
