Journalists Call for Justice for Slain Cameroonian Colleague

By SAM MEDNICK

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Journalists in war-torn Cameroon on Monday called for an “urgent and rigorous” investigation into the death of a prominent reporter.

The Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists said Monday the mutilated body of Salomon Mbani Zogo, more popularly known as Martinez Zogo, was found Sunday near Soa, a suburb of the capital.

Zogo, a journalist and managing director at private radio station Amplitude FM, was abducted near his home on January 17 by unidentified men in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, the association said.

According to rights groups, Zogo was the host of a popular daily show and regularly denounced alleged embezzlement by well-known people, particularly from the business world.

The government said the results of an autopsy are pending. Government spokesman Rene Emmanuel Sadi said an investigation is underway “to find and bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous, unspeakable and inadmissible crime, which cannot be justified under any pretext.”

Journalists paid their respects to Zogo Monday, lighting candles and placing flowers next to a picture outside the radio station where he worked.

“When you see all the mutilations that his body suffered and the fact that his body was thrown in a field like that, I have the impression that this is a message that was sent to all independent journalists and to all those who think that this country can function differently. So, it’s quite terrifying,” said Jean Bruno Tagne, a local journalist.

Conflict has rattled the Central-African nation since English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion in 2017, with the stated goal of breaking away from the area dominated by the French-speaking majority country and setting up an independent, English-speaking state.

The government has accused the separatists of committing atrocities against English-speaking civilians. The conflict has killed more than 3,300 people and displaced more than 750,000 others, according to the U.N.

Rights groups and journalists say the information space is shrinking.

In a statement Monday, Amnesty International Regional Director for West and Central Africa Samira Daoud said Zogo’s probable murder is one of many in a line of people killed, raped, convicted or intimidated in Cameroon for speaking out about human rights violations, all with total impunity.

Amnesty also demanded an answer to the death in custody of journalist Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe, who was arrested by defense and security forces in August 2019.