Anglophone Crisis: Over 42 youths arbitrarily arrested in Matoh, yet to be freed

Some 42 young men arrested at Matoh, a village in Meme Division of the South West, are yet to be freed nearly one week later.

They were taken into custody without reason on March 2 by soldiers who were supposedly looking for separatist fighters.

“They were forcefully taken out of their houses in a military raid carried out on the morning of Thursday, March 2, 2023, at about 2 a.m.” a source told MMI.

“Later in the day, they were forced to trek for more than three hours from Matoh to mile 12-Diongo,” the source added.

Since then, authorities have not made any statements about where the young men have been detained.

However, government propaganda on social media channels claimed that the individuals arrested were separatist fighters, which numerous eyewitness accounts have refuted.

The military and police of Cameroon frequently use mass and arbitrary arrests as a tactic in their searches for separatist fighters in the Northwest and Southwest Regions.

But many times, civilians are abused and victimised in the course of such raids.

Two weeks ago, MMI reported how a group of women in Ekona, a small town in Fako Division of the Southwest Region, marched to the regional capital Buea to protest the mass arrest of their children and relatives.

Some of them were released after pressure from the women, but others were retained for investigations.

By Tata Mbunwe