Mr. Valentine Mbila, a local farmer in Bamenda has been confirmed dead by his family after spending over two weeks in military detention.
Mr. Valentine Mbila was arrested on December 10, 2021, some days after the Mbengwi road burnings by the military. His relatives say, Mr. Valentine, who is a farmer was arrested by the military as he returned from the farm and accused him of being a separatist.
According to testimony from his daughter, on the day of his arrest, a gunfire exchange took place between separatists and the military.
His daughter recounts that her father decided to stay back at the farm for the gunfire to subside so that he could return home.
“When he was returning from the farm, the military arrested him and accused him of being an Ambazonian fighter,” his daughter told us.
He was incarcerated soon after he was arrested and brutally tortured by the military. His family was also denied access to him, with the BIR on several occasions telling them they did not have him in detention.
On December 27, 2021, the daughter of the deceased says they were called and told their father was at the hospital and needed to be taken care of.
“We met him in a precarious state, already being infused with a bag of blood… He later died today December 28,” She revealed.
