The family of Samuel Wazizi remains in shock and consternation following news of the death of their brother and son while in detention in Yaounde.
According Abogho Henry Ndoga, senior brother to Samuel Wazizi “our family have been traumatised and affected in all aspects since the arrest of Samuel Wazizi in Muea-Buea South West Region of Cameroon on the 2nd of August 2019. Besides being a journalist, Wazizi was a committed farmer that has invested in the domain with the aim of providing a brighter future for himself and junior ones.”
According to Tah Javis, former colleague of Samuel Wazizi at Chillen Media television in Buea “Wazizi was a media man that spent his time cultivating in his farm while out of the television house”.
Samuel Wazizi originates from Ngie village, Momo Division in the North West Region of Cameroon. Losing both parents at a tender age, the “major bread winner of the family” as described by Abogho Henry resettled in Muea-Buea in the South West with his three junior brothers. “Samuel assisted his kid brothers to pay their fees prior to the outbreak of the Anglophone crisis in 2016. When the war stopped schools in Muea and other places, he continued playing the role of a father to these boys,” Abogho Henry told Mimi Mefo Info on phone.
To the senior brother, Samuel Wazizi was a father of an eleven-year-old son due to write his First School Leaving Certificate Examination this year to complete his primary school studies. He furthers that “… the girl friend of Wazizi (mother of his son) died three years ago and since then, the boy has been living with his maternal grandparents in the West Region of Cameroon”.
Besides the brother, Wazizi’s lone surviving aunt Helen Asakwa remains inconsolable. “Samuel was a boy who struggled by working his farm and in a media house to survive. They accused him of terrorist activities for nothing. Why did not take him to court to prove his innocence?” She questions in total frustration and agony.
The woman attests that Wazizi ‘has been a God sent’ saviour of the family through his financial assistance.
“As a pidgin news broadcaster, Samuel Wazizi received threats from both separatist fighters and the military based on the content of his program,” Tah Javis, a former colleague and producer of the pidgin news program told Mimi Mefo Info.
In his opinion, Wazizi’s objectivity in the practice of journalism profession was not taken in good faith by key actors in the war for the restoration of Ambazonia statehood in the South West region.
To Tah Javis “the arrest and subsequent death of Samuel Wazizi can possibly be linked to some hatred against him. He had a promising farm that is due harvest this year”.
The family of Samuel Wazizi has denied claims by the Ministry of Defense which say that Wazizi was in constant communication with the family throughout detention until his death. “The last time I saw my brother was at Muea police station. When they took him to the 21st motorised infantry battalion, I went there several times but they chased me away saying people are not detained there”, Abogho Henry Ndoga adds.
According to him, he was ready to sell every family property to bail Wazizi from detention.
With the demise of Samuel Wazizi, hope of a better life of his siblings seems to have shattered.
Mimi Mefo Info.
