Radio Okapi.Ph/ Irene Mboma.”/>
A total of nine detainees escaped, on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, April 20, from the central prison of Iyombe in Inongo (Mai-Ndombe). The director of this prison prison attributes these recurring escapes to the dilapidation and deterioration of the prison.
According to the director of the central prison of Iyombe, Joseph Lilenge Isakema, these nine prisoners, who escaped on Thursday, dug a hole in the wall of the main cell with their hands and managed to get out.
For now, investigations have been launched to find the escapees, he reassured.
According to him, cases of prisoner escapes are recurrent in this prison. Almost every month there are always a few prisoners who manage to escape.
This prison, built in 1923, “exists only in name”, according to him. All the walls have aged and are currently cracked. There is not even a roof, nor a door and windows.
Joseph Lilenge Isakema adds that the detainees who still remain in this central prison of Inongo, are there voluntarily for lack of shelter.
He says he has been crying out for the reconstruction of this prison for several years, but in vain.
He reiterates his appeal to the authorities of both the provincial government of Mai-Ndombe and the central government to think about the reconstruction of this prison.
Iyombe prison, which has a prison capacity of 100 inmates, has 45, including two women.