Moussa Dadis Camara, the former military ruler of Guinea, has returned to captivity, according to his lawyer, who also denied that Camara took part voluntarily in the previous violent jailbreak, which he referred to as a forced kidnapping.

Early on Saturday morning, residents of Conakry’s capital heard gunshots coming from a central prison, where Camara and three other policemen were held. This led the Guinean authorities to begin a statewide manhunt for the suspects.

Pepe Antoine Lamah, Camara’s attorney, stated on social media on Saturday afternoon that her client was back in Central House prison in Conakry.

He criticised the government of not protecting its captives but did not elaborate on how his client had been brought back into custody.

“Camara was indeed kidnapped this morning very early by heavily armed individuals who forced him into a vehicle,” he stated. “It is … unacceptable and even inappropriate to classify a kidnapping as an escape.”

A request for comment was not immediately answered by the authorities. Prior to this, the general prosecutor declared that an inquiry had been launched against Camara and the other participants in what it referred to as a jailbreak.

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It was not immediately clear where the other cops had disappeared to.

Armed officers have stopped and inspected passing automobiles, while soldiers in armoured personnel carriers are combing the streets of the city in an attempt to find them.

Early in the morning, residents reported hearing the rattle of gunfire coming from the Kaloum administrative district, which housed Central House prison, where Camara and the others were being detained.

“We were filled with dread, anxiety, tension, and panic. “Everyone was terrified and confused about what was happening,” Mamadou Aliou Tham, a resident of Conakry, said.

The episode draws attention to the precarious security situation in Guinea, which is governed by a second military dictatorship that took over in a coup in 2021. In the last three years, there have been eight such takeovers throughout West and Central Africa.

Since last year, Camara and other defendants have been on trial on charges of planning a stadium massacre and mass rape by Guinean security forces on September 28, 2009, during which 150 people were killed during a pro-democracy march.

Camara has disavowed any guilt and placed the blame for the crimes on rogue soldiers.

After spearheading a military takeover in 2008, he controlled the biggest exporter of bauxite from Africa for over a year until being hurt in an attempted murder in December 2009.

Despite the atrocity damaging his reputation, he is still well-liked in the Southeast. The family members and survivors had anticipated receiving justice at last from the trial.

Reuters