After months of uncertainty, Anglophone Cameroon journalist Wazizi reported killed in custody

Wazizi’s death was announced on Équinoxe television in the economic capital Douala, after reporting that it had received confirmation from a top military aide in Yaoundé, the administrative capital.

“He was arrested by police and later taken back to the military barracks. Since he was transferred, we haven’t had any contact with him,” says Elvis Tsembom Ndi, a secretary of the regional Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ). 

Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe, who went by the name Wazizi, was a popular news presenter at CMTV in Buea, the capital of the anglophone South West region.

“He had an amazing programme over the radio called Hala ya matter in Pidgin; his programme was kind of satirical as he brought out the ills and gave out local news,” says Feka Parchibell, the head of an NGO called Hope for Vulnerables and Orphans (HOVO) in Kambe, based in the anglophone North West region.

“So many people listened to it to laugh and at the same time get some salient information on the happenings in the community,” Parchibell told RFI.

Peaceful protests in the English-speaking North West and South West regions of Cameroon began in 2016.

Anglophones demonstrated against the perceived marginalization by the majority French-speaking central government, however, protests erupted into violence after the government responded with a military crackdown.

Separatists then armed themselves in a crisis where innocent civilians in the two regions have been caught in the crossfire.

He tried to help his community

“Wazizi was working in Buea, one of the restive regions in Cameroon. After his arrest, we got reports that he had links with separatist fighters, but we weren’t able to confirm this,” says journalist Ndi.

Parchibell met Wazizi in 2018 when he came to a HOVO press conference about the lack of education for Anglophone children in the region. Her organisation primarily helps women and girls. Wazizi interviewed her about the work HOVO does and found out that she regularly went to the bush to help people fleeing the violence.

He told her that the bush in Muea, where he was from, had Internally Displaced People (IDPs) that no humanitarians had ever visited or tried to help.

“He was very hard-working and he owned one of the bush areas that served as a home to the IDPs,” she says.

They had planned to go to the bush around Muea right before he was arrested. He gave no indication that he thought he was being pursued by the military, she said.

“Truth is, with this crisis, no one is actually safe because when you praise the military or the Amba boys, the other party feels you are against them,” she added, referring to the armed Ambazonian separatists.

“He, just like any Cameroonian, talked about the crisis. He wanted the crisis to come to an end, and that's our prayers,” says Parchibell.

Although the announcement was made via the media, no official statement has been made about Wazizi’s death. RFI contacted both the communications minister and the military press secretary for confirmation, but as of time of publication, has not received any reply.

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No corpse has been produced—a grey area according to the international media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). “We believe he is still alive,” says Ndi, a CAMASEJ secretary.

The regional journalist's group had consistently pressed for information to find out where he was being detained.

Wazizi literally disappeared into the system, says Ndi. “We were shocked that he was arrested, he had no access to lawyers, to family members—this is against the criminal procedure code,” he says.

Additionally, although he was picked up by police, he, a civilian, was handed over to the military, another inconsistency in the case.

“There was no justification for holding him in an army barracks and no excuse for his death,” says Arnaud Froger, the head of Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).  “The murky circumstances surrounding this case must be clarified.”

The broadcaster failed to appear at a hearing at Fako High Court in the South West Region on 28 May, prompting his lawyers to fear he was already dead.

Rumours that he had been transferred to the notorious Kondengui prison in Yaoundé have not been confirmed. According to comments by lawyer Christopher Ndong to VOA, Wazizi died in a military hospital of wounds inflicted upon him by security forces.

Wazizi, one of many detained journalists

Press organisations are also closely following the cases of Pidgin blogger and activist Mancho Bibixy, Tsi Conrad, and Thomas Awah Junior. Awah previously worked for for Equinoxe TV, was tried and sentenced along with two other journalists, Tsi Conrad and Mancho Bibixy, on charges relatied to the Anglophone crisis.

A Yaoundé chapter member of CAMASEJ, Frank Akam*, had been visiting Bibixy, Conrad and Awah on a regular basis until a riot broke out in Kondengui prison last July.

“Awah has been in and out of the hospital and is not well,” he told  RFI. “Bibixy, as of six months ago, was mentally very strong, vocal and continues to reject the charges against him,” says Akam.

Wawa Jackson, a former radio journalist with Abakwa FM, was arrested 18 months ago in the North West region for comments he made on his local news Facebook page, Wawanews.

For Wazizi’s case, CAMASEJ has been discussing how to bring about an independent investigation, and the media body has contacted the ministry of defense for an official meeting, says Ndi.

Wazizi’s forced disappearance leaves a great void in Anglophone Cameroon's media, and in his community.

“He was a jovial young man who wanted everyone around to be happy,” says Parchibell. He loved his Muea community and was inspiring to many youths.”

*Name changed for security reasons