By Ernest Sumelong
Some Buea and Douala based journalists were recent victims of police brutality and arbitrary arrests following the current University of Buea, UB, students strike.
Christopher Andu Ezieh, Publisher and Editor of a Buea based English tabloid, The Heron, was clobbered into insensibility by the police. Four others, Solomon Amabo, Ernest Chi Cho, of Equinox TV, Polycarp Esomba, RFI correspondent in Douala, and Alexy Keptchouang of La Nouvelle Expression, a Douala based French daily, were arrested while on duty, Thursday, December 7, and held for four hours. The police also seized their identification badges, cameras and other press gadgets.
"You can now go ahead and videotape with your eyes what is happening around here, since you want to show the world that there is trouble in Buea," one of the police officers is quoted to have said, in mockery.
According to Solomon Amabo, they had gone into the campus of the university and tried to know from some authorities why students were still on strike and what their demands were.
"While we were there, the police continued to fire gunshots in the air, shot teargas and used water canons against students in their residential area.
Torture To Near Death
The reporters, who were detained by 1pm, were only freed by 5pm, after the Mayor of the Buea Municipality, Charles Mbella Moki, intervened and pleaded for their release.
Earlier, on Wednesday, November 29, policemen beat to near death, Christopher Andu Ezieh, The Heron Publisher.
"As I stepped out of my door, four police officers caught me and began hitting me with batons. When I identified myself as a journalist, they grew more furious and beat me the more, hitting and kicking me with their heavy boots," Ezieh narrated.Ezieh said the officers lifted him and threw him over the fence of the university unto the campus.
"As I fell over, more of them came from the other side and continued beating me till I fainted. Even after I fainted, they continued their torture till I regained consciousness. By this time, I was bleeding profusely and was growing very weak and limp.
I knew I that I was dying, so I struggled and called the name of their leader, Jean Roger Mefire, who is a friend. Fortunately, he recognised me and came to my rescue, telling his colleagues that I am a known journalist in town. Mefire then advised me, seeing the blood all over me, to go to the hospital or else I would die.
He tried to lift me up but I would only buckle under and so he abandoned me because he had to continue with his business," he recounted, displaying his wounds."As I was abandoned on the UB Street, it took me about an hour to practically creep to the nearest clinic.
One student mustered courage and tried to help me, but soon could not continue with me because of the bullets and teargas, which the police were firing. The journalist, who is yet to fully recover from the wounds, said the policemen had meant to kill him.
There has been routine abuse of the rights and total disregard for journalists.
Commenting on the incidents, Charly Ndi Chia, a veteran journalist and Adviser of the Cameroon Union of Journalists, CUJ, said the normal thing would have been for policemen to facilitate the job of reporters instead of assaulting them.
He said the highest administrative authorities of the Southwest Province were self-serving sadists and enemies of national integration who, for very parochial reasons, were giving their Yaounde bosses a totally false picture of what was really going on at UB in particular and the rest of the Province in general. He said the only solution they had for every students upheaval, was drafting the police and gendarmes to confront and be confronted by students.
He wondered why the zeal and weaponry with which these powers were drafting the security forces to attack students could not also be adopted in the fight against armed banditry and fraud in high places. To him, the problem at the University of Buea was never caused by journalists, yet these journalists had a bounden duty to record the events for posterity and should in no way be prevented from doing so by lawless men in uniform.
He said he has since been expecting police hierarchy in Buea to unconditionally apologise for the brutalisation by cops of a journalist to near death, as well as arresting and humiliating others.
Ndi Chia also described Fame Ndongo's decision to adulterate a university admission list with names of candidates who either did not write or failed the examination, as dreadful tripe and treacle, which, he said, was offensive to people of learning and refinement. Individuals like Fame, had no business passing around for Minister of Higher Education, he noted.
On a final note, the CUJ Adviser noted: "Acts like the one that was committed on Ezieh and co, could be traced to cowards, primitive people and others who lack self confidence. It is like someone whose only tool is a hammer, and so he tends to see every problem as a nail"
ahaha!!!!! could someone tell those police to stop waisting thier bullets on innocent students? Don,t they remember that, they have to reserve some for thier usual night rubbery?
But realy that ocuppying rigime need some form of bin ladden.... something awaits them, ofcourse where is saddam?
Posted by: BONAVENTURE | Wednesday, 13 December 2006 at 11:29 AM