SDO Ngoketunjia Defends Arrests After Gendarme’s Death, Denies Baby Detentions
The Divisional Officer (SDO) for Ngoketunjia has strongly defended the recent arrests of seven villagers following the kidnapping and subsequent assassination of a Gendarme officer in the area. Speaking out against what he termed “falsehood” and “propaganda,” the SDO vehemently denied claims that two babies were among those detained, asserting instead that those in custody are “abettors and accomplices” of armed robbers.
The arrests, which took place on June 24, were carried out by security forces with the SDO’s explicit support. The incident that triggered the crackdown was the abduction of a Gendarme officer by separatist fighters, an act that the SDO emphasized led to the officer’s tragic death.
“You are not ashamed to casually announce the assassination of the Gendarme officer by his captors that you failed to defend his own life,” the SDO stated, expressing profound indignation at the loss of the officer. “He too, like several other victims, is also a human being with a right to life.” Handerson Quetong Kongeh told a human rights activist from African Conscience NGO that had bene on the case since June 24.
The SDO maintained that the detainees are being held because they are “liable under the Cameroonian criminal code” for “hosting gangsters for long, failing to denounce them and even receiving from them.” He dismissed any narrative suggesting that babies were arrested, labeling it a “propaganda shield” intended to deflect from the alleged misdeeds of the adults. According to the SDO, any children present “should have been voluntarily handed to the competent social welfare services or baby sitters of their choices.”
Addressing the Gendarmerie’s actions, the SDO acknowledged the profound impact of the officer’s death. “You can therefore understand their present state of mind,” he noted, implicitly referencing the intensity of the security operations. He also distanced himself from direct knowledge of any alleged torture of detainees, stating, “I am surprised you directly link operations security carry out in the field and in their offices to me. In as much as they give information globally to me, they cannot accept to me that they are torturing detainees.”
The SDO underscored that the Gendarme officer “belongs to the Republic and not to the SDO of Ngoketunjia,” reinforcing the state’s prerogative in maintaining law and order. He affirmed that “Cameroon is a state of law, and justice will take its course, irrespective of all your pressure and propaganda.”
He further revealed that prior to the Gendarme officer’s death, he had “subscribed benevolent mediators in persons of a Catholic Rev. Fr. Michael Mua and Pastor Vincent of Coming Mission to solve this problem peacefully.” This suggests an initial effort to de-escalate the situation through dialogue before the tragic turn of events.
The SDO concluded by pardoning what he termed “imaginative reporting” from some quarters, attributing it to the insecurity on the roads “caused by the very highway robbers you are protecting.”
From every indication the SDO does not seem to think about releasing the detainees imckusinv two babies.
CNA received credible information backed by voice notes that the detainees have been tortured and two were taken to the hospital last week but Gendarmes insisted they will not be admitted.
