Cameroonian Anglophone activist Abdul Karim Ali has now spent two years in detention without trial. On August 11, 2024, marking the anniversary of his arrest, he released an audio message highlighting the dire conditions faced by Anglophone detainees across the country, calling for humanitarian assistance. Despite his imprisonment, Ali remains committed to his peaceful campaign for an independent Anglophone Cameroon, known as Ambazonia by armed militants.
Ali was arrested on August 11, 2022, in Bamenda, North West region, without a warrant and was subsequently transferred to the Kondengui maximum security prison in Yaoundé, where he faces terrorism charges. His arrest followed shortly after he publicly condemned the actions of Ewome Eko John, popularly known as Moja Moja, a Cameroonian soldier and traditional ruler of Bwassa village.
Ali had directly confronted Moja Moja, predicting his downfall with the words, “Nature shall arrest you,” in reference to the soldier’s brutal actions. Moja Moja, notorious for his violent methods, is now himself under detention at the Secretariat of Defense (SED) after making controversial claims of a planned coup to overthrow President Paul Biya’s government. His arrest has prompted further investigations into allegations of human rights abuses he committed while serving in the military.
In a video that circulated years ago, Abdul Karim Ali openly challenged Moja Moja, daring him to “dare this nonsense in Bamenda for 30 seconds.” Ali condemned the soldier’s torture, maiming, and killing of civilians, accusing him of abusing his power under the guise of fighting armed separatists. “You have tortured, maimed, killed, and abused our people to the maximum. I want to challenge you, though you have your source of power, which is the government of Cameroon, against your own people,” Ali declared in the video. He described Moja Moja as a “slave dehumanizing his own people” and assured that “nature shall arrest you.”
Ali’s arrest came just days after this public confrontation, much to the satisfaction of Moja Moja, who had been targeting unarmed civilians, including pregnant women, while claiming to combat separatists.
Recently, Moja Moja, who previously served in the elite Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) of the Cameroon armed forces, was demoted and reassigned to the regular army’s infantry battalion. In response, he claimed that his demotion was retaliation by military superiors for his refusal to participate in a purported military coup against the regime. These explosive allegations led to his detention by military intelligence at SED, where he now faces further scrutiny for his alleged human rights violations.
