Outrage over reported death of Cameroonian journalist Wazizi

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 02:46 pm

Journalists in Cameroon have taken to the streets of Buea in the South west region to protest and demand an account of their missing colleague, Samuel Wazizi, after local media reported he had died in military custody.

Wazizi, was arrested in August 2019. for alleged involvement in the country’s anglophone crisis.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) confirmed his death in a statement on Wednesday evening, after a privately-owned Cameroonian TV station and then the National Union of Cameroonian Journalists (SNJC) announced his death on Tuesday.

Neither the government nor the army had yet confirmed the journalist’s death, or reacted to requests on his whereabouts.

Now, what really happened to Samuel Wazizi? What could he have done to have led to arrest and kept away without trial, and access to no one for so long? And since no one has seen his body, is he really dead?