There are confusing signals from Garoua, homebase of Issa Tchiroma who is claiming victory in the 12 October presidential election.
In a message posted on Tchiroma’s Facebook accounts early on Friday, Tchiroma says he has been moved by soldiers loyal to him to a “safe place”.
However, a briefing note (story pitch) by freelance journalist, Franklin Sone Bayen to an international news organization on Thursday just before 5pm, suggested Tchiroma could have been technically under house arrest following his observations of movements around Marouare, Tchiroma’s residential neighborhood.
It is not yet clear whether the said relocation to a “safe place” came as a measure to rescue him from the apparent house arrest.
Below is freelance journalist Franklin Sone Bayen’s briefing note on Thursday.
Tchiroma could be effectively under house arrest now.
I’m just from the neighborhood. There is a military presence there now. Third degree force. And they seem to be on some kind of operation. This has not been the case until now.
I couldn’t get anywhere near his residence. All streets leading to his house are barticaded.
Previously one could walk past or drive past into the neighborhood. Today, police turn away vehicles, motorbikes and pedestrians.
Winding around on a motorbike, searching for alternative routes to reach his house, I saw soldiers with guns, hopping from military vehicles to go deeper into the neighborhood through paths.
If it turns out the military is closing in on him, it won’t be surprising. Tchiroma said in a statement on his Facebook account that this struggling is entering its third phase.
That coming after he made allusion to the 2010 post-election crisis where the incumbent hurriedly sworn in, was eventually removed by armed intervention, must have sent a signal of war to Yaounde.
Franklin Sone Bayen
Freelance Journalist in Garoua
