In August 2019, Journalist Samuel Wazizi who was invited by the police in Muea-Buea on basis of spreading information from Ambazonia fighters to threaten the population and also because the separatist group had set up a camp in his farm, was declared dead months after his arrest.
He willingly showed up refusing all allegations levied against him but was detained by the police commissioner who said Wazizi could not be granted bail because the administration of South west “was on the case closely.
After his forceful arrest, the 21st Motorised Infantry Battalion of South West jurisdiction failed to produce him for legal proceedings or issued any statement about his case.
Instead of placing measures to protect Journalist, the government reacted with several threats.
One of which came from the minister of territorial administration Paul Atanga Nji, saying Cameroonian journalists were becoming highly unpatriotic and thier main objective is just to sabotage government action and promote secessionist tendencies
The minister added that those who don’t want to respect the law will be considered recalcitrant and treated as such.
Ten months after Wazizi was arrested and tortured, a report made by Equinoxe TV news of June 2, 2020
declared him dead.
The Cameroon government has always had a malicious way of handling issues of Journalist who speak ill of the regime, while claiming to do proper investigations when they are brutally apprehended.
In a most recent case, Journalist Martinez Zogo who worked for Amplitude FM has been declared dead after he was kidnapped by unknown thugs.
Host of a popular program called “Embouttiellage”, Martinez Zogo was abducted on January 17, 2023 and his whereabouts unknown.
Just like the old school story, similar to the case of wazizi, the government reacted through the minister of Minister of Communication, Rene Emmanuel Sadi who said that the government was investigating Zogo’s abduction.
Sad enough thier promises weren’t fulfilled as always as Zogo’s lifeless body was found in the neighborhood of Soa in Yaoundé in a decomposing state.
Autopsy report proves that Zogo was electrocuted, leg broken and fingers missing. it is rumoured that Zogo’s brutal assassination may have come from his spearheading of an investigation on an embezzlement case which involve the owner of Anecdote Media Group, Amougou Belinga.
The Cameroon regime is often accused of building a solid crackdown on media establishments preventing tracking down journalist that expose numerous atrocities committed by the top military personnels and the military.
Although Zogo’s case might not directly concern the Cameroon government as investigations are still ongoing, it is unclear if the investigations will ever lead to a meaningful finding which will track down the perpetrators of this act.
Over the past years, several Journalist have been arrested, tortured and detained for years, some for months with the likes of Wawa Jackson, Mimi Mefo, Atia Tilarious. The alert is alarming and the big question remains “after Wazizi and Zogo, who’s next?
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