Journalist in Cameroon finally seen after 24 days

Freelance journalist Njoka Kingsley Fomonyuy disappeared 24 days ago after being arrested by plainclothes police officers in his house in Douala, Cameroon.

For the first time yesterday, his lawyer Joseph Akuwiyadze was finally allowed to see his client since his disappearance, this time in the Secretariat of State for Defence in the capital Yaoundé.

Mr Akuwiyadze announced to the press after his meeting that his client is accused of supporting terrorism, a potential death penalty crime.

During his arrest on 15 May, however, his abductors provided no reason for taking Mr Fomonyuy, leaving his family and legal team to dismiss these charges as a mere excuse for challenging free speech.  

The journalist has been a contributor to Magic FM and a senior writer for the Douala-based Catholic Magazine “L’Effort Camerounais”. Both his office and home were ransacked by the plainclothes officers as they took his three laptops and cash amounting to over CFA 50,000.

This is the second high-profile abduction of a journalist in Cameroon recently. Last week, the government finally acknowledged the death of Samuel Wazizi, a journalist who died in police custody last year. He died two weeks after his arrest on 3 August, but was only made public 10 months later.

Fears for the safety of Mr Fomonyuy are high, and journalist unions have been vocal in their protest against his arrest and the Cameroonian government’s wider attack on the press.

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