By Synthia Lateu
Nearly four months after two researchers and their guide were lynched in Cameroon’s Far North Region, a new report has accused local gendarmes of refusing to intervene during the deadly incident.
The 215-page document, published by the Independent Commission of Inquiry of the Mandela Center International, reveals that on March 2, 2025, Mr. Mounsi Frederick, Dr. Bienvenu Bello, and Mr. Oumarou Kabalay were stopped by residents of Soulédé-Roua while on duty and later burned alive, despite repeated alerts to local security forces.
The report states that at 1:14 p.m., the three “were stopped, while on duty, by local residents on the dry riverbed of the Mayo Baja, located 150 meters from the Mbalda market, and burned alive at 5:04 p.m., while the commander of the Roua Territorial Gendarmerie Brigade, Chief Warrant Officer Ossock, and his men refused to intervene.”
The Commission says the inaction of the brigade commander was a “key and triggering factor” in the killings. It expresses deep regret over the claim by local administrative authorities that the victims had been mistaken for Boko Haram fighters.
The report criticizes both the police and administrative authorities for their failure to respond promptly and take security measures that could have saved the victims. It notes that the Senior Divisional Officer of Soulédé-Roua, Mr. Aminou, arrived at the scene at 5:25 p.m. despite being informed around midday.
The Commission further notes that the Cameroonian defense and security forces, along with the administrative authorities of Soulédé-Roua, gravely failed in their duty to protect the researchers and their guide. It accused military authorities of “failure to assist persons in danger.”
Led by human rights expert Jean Claude Fogno, Executive Secretary of Mandela Center International, the Center said it carried out its investigations from March 20 to 31, 2025. The team conducted field missions across the Mayo-Tsanaga and Diamaré Divisions, and in areas like Lara (Mayo-Kani, Far North) and Vogzom (Mayo-Rey Division, North Region), to shed light on the alleged human rights violations against the academics.
The report recounts in chilling detail, how the researchers and their guide were forcibly taken to the marketplace without being given the chance to explain or present their mission documents.
Two individuals reportedly fetched several liters of gasoline and a box of matches from a nearby fuel vendor, while others collected firewood.
“The researchers and their guide were subjected to the ultimate ordeal: thrown one by one into the flames.”
The Commission stressed that a single act such as a warning shot fired by the gendarmerie could have been enough to disperse the crowd and save the lives of the victims.
In conclusion, the report calls for those responsible (for burning the researchers or the security forces for failing to show up?) to be brought to justice and urges the State of Cameroon to provide fair compensation to the victims’ families in accordance with international human rights law.
