Cameroon hands death verdict to 89 Boko Haram members

Cameroon has condemned 89 suspected Boko Haram operatives to death for “terrorism” since the start of 2015.

The sentences come after Cameroon adopted a controversial anti-terror law in December 2014 allowing capital punishment for those found guilty of carrying out terror attacks or complicity in terrorism.

Those convicted were mostly arrested on Cameroon’s border with Nigeria, the birthplace of the extremist group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group.

Cameroon already had the death penalty for murder, but there have been no executions since the mid-1980s.

Almost 850 people suspected of links to Boko Haram are being held in prison in Maroua, capital of the far north of Cameroon.

They include Nigerians and Chadians as well as Cameroonians, according to regional newspaper L’Oeil du Sahel.

Boko Haram violence has left at least 17,000 dead and forced more than 2.6 million from their homes since 2009.

*Reported by AFP