25 Boko Haram insurgents die in Cameroon custody

Cameroon on Saturday said more than two dozen Boko Haram suspects died in custody late last year, but a government spokesman denied the country’s army was carrying out regular human rights abuses in its crackdown on the Nigerian Islamic extremist group.

AFP reported that 25 suspects were found dead in their cell one day after being arrested in December, Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said in a press conference Friday evening.

They were part of a group of 56 detainees, and the cause of their deaths is still being determined, he said.

He added that a senior military official had been removed from his post and was being investigated over the deaths, though he did not identify this person by name.

International human rights group, Amnesty has repeatedly accused the Nigerian military of systematic human rights violations of Boko Haram suspect – an allegation strenuously denied by the Defence Headquarters.