Arrested B’da strikers ‘disappeared’ to unknown destination

Local reporters and Human Rights NGOs in Bamenda say the whereabouts of some 29 persons arrested during the deadly riots in the NW regional capital cannot be immediately ascertained. Speculations are that they have been ferried to Bafoussam or Yaounde

By Nestor Ndjodzefe in Bamenda

At least 50 persons were arrested during the riots in B’da

Some 29 persons arrested during the recent violent protest riots in Bamenda have been declared missing by family members and Human Rights NGOs. A list containing the names of the disappeared persons is presently circulating in Bamenda.

                According to reports, the disappeared persons were arrested on 6 December 2016, when the populations of Bamenda, mostly the youths, took to the streets to violently protest the holding of a CPDM rally in the town.

                At least four persons were shot dead and several scores others wounded including four gendarmes, four police officers and two CPDM militants. A district police station was also burnt down by the violent protesters.

                But as an uneasy calm now reigns in Bamenda, and as bereaved families burry their dead and the populations dry-clean the blood that was let, some 29 persons that were arrested are no where to be found in any of the police and gendarmerie guard rooms in Bamenda. Human Rights enthusiasts say after combing all the police cells in town and even the Bamenda central prison, they can state without fear of contradiction that the 29 persons arrested are not in Bamenda.

                When the people were arrested it was said in town that they had been taken to the Mobile Wing Police Station, GMI, in Bamenda, and later transferred to the Bamenda Central Prison.

                But after almost three weeks following the arrests, diverse sources, including media and Human Rights sources in Bamenda, say these “scapegoats” are no where to be found in Bamenda.

                Speculations are rife in town that the 29 missing persons might have been transferred to Bafoussam or Yaounde where they would be made to suffer martyrdom.

The sources expressed serious fears about the treatment these unfortunate scapegoats would be subjected to, given that during the two or so days that they spent at the GMI, all kinds of inhuman treatments were already being visited on them.

                Further speculations are that with the recent enactment of the law on terrorism, these missing persons would be considered as terrorists and thus made to face the legal and other consequences reserved for this group of “criminals”.

                For his part, the Governor of the NW region, Adolphe Lele L’Afrique, has not been indifferent to talk in town about the disappearance of the arrested persons. In his several outings with the press after the violence, the governor maintained that Cameroon is a Republic that is governed by laws; and that no one is above the law or should think that they can violate the law and go away with it.

                Governor Lele advised the populations to come back to their good senses and avoid creating situations that could jeopardise the peace and unity in the country. He said any persons who attempted to breach the peace or question the republican nature of the country only expose themselves to perilous consequences.

                As to the whereabouts of the arrested persons, the governor only referred persons who expressed worries to go and check with the police and gendarmerie authorities.

                But family members and HR activists who availed themselves at the judicial police and gendarmerie legion in Bamenda, said the authorities there refused to make any declaration about the whereabouts of the missing persons.

                The cry in Bamenda today is for these persons to be brought to court soon and tried so that their fate can be known.

                It should be recalled that at a press conference he granted in Yaounde, following the deadly riots in Bamenda, government spokesman, Issa Tchiroma Bakari, announced that some 52 persons were arrested during and after the violence. He said the arrested persons would be brought before the laws of the land, and those guilty would be punished accordingly.

                Issa Tchiroma emphasized that the unity, peace and territorial integrity of Cameroon is non-negotiable and cannot be allowed to be toyed with by lawless vandals.