Gendarme officers in Awing, Santa Subdivision of the North West Region, have stirred controversy by arresting and subsequently releasing two young men suspected of killing 17-year-old Muluh Frederick last week.
The victim, a Lower Sixth student, was fatally stabbed in Mbetu quarter, in Awing village, on Tuesday, January 9.
The villagers identified and assisted the gendarmes in the arrest of the two prime suspects – young men who are reported to have broken into Frederick’s father’s house a month earlier.
However, the shocking turn of events occurred when the suspects were freed a few days after their arrest, leading to accusations of corruption and injustice.
The grieving village, devastated by Muluh Frederick’s tragic death, has been expressing outrage over the alleged act of corruption that saw the suspected killers released.
Muluh Frederick, described as highly intelligent, was preparing to write the GCE Advanced Level in Lower Sixth after completing Ordinary Levels in Form Four last year.
His death left his father devastated and his mother inconsolable.
During the burial ceremony on Saturday, January 13, the victim’s father, known as Pa Solo, urged the community not to seek revenge but to allow authorities to deliver justice to the perpetrators who had been initially arrested.
Details emerged that the gendarmes, in their investigation, apprehended the two young men who were in possession of the victim’s mother’s phone, stolen during the fatal incident.
“On Friday, just before he was buried on Saturday, the Gendarmerie conducted investigations and apprehended the two boys who killed this boy… When they killed this boy they took his mother’s phone. So when the gendarmes caught them they saw the mother’s phone with them. So that was the exhibit,” a native of Awing who is versed with the happenings told MMI.
However, the release of the suspects after a bribery incident involving their parents has fueled dissatisfaction among the locals.
Shocked by the turn of events, the community is demanding renewed investigations and justice for Muluh Frederick.
Reports indicate that the parents of the suspects swiftly relocated their children from the village after allegedly bribing the gendarmes, to prevent any form of retaliation from the community.
‘INNOCENT’ PEOPLE PAY BRIBES TO BE FREED
Further complicating the situation, an informant revealed that nine individuals who were initially arrested by the Awing Gendarmerie brigade in connection to Muluh’s death were forced to bribe the gendarmes for their freedom.
The nine were drinking at the victim’s father’s palm wine bar at Mbetu Carrefour on the night of the incident.
Each of these individuals reportedly paid FCFA 180,000 before being released from custody.
The Awing community, already grappling with the challenges imposed by the ongoing armed conflict in the English-speaking Regions of Cameroon, is now burdened with concerns about delayed justice, exploitation of civilians, and the overall impact of the incident on the village.
The crisis that started in 2016 has had its toll on the village, like other areas of the English-speaking Regions, where over 6,000 civilians have been killed since 2016.
