Like Wazizi, Government makes another ‘empty’ promise of justice for Martinez Zogo

By Tata Mbunwe

Cameroon’s Minister of Communication, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, in a statement, has said the Yaounde government will investigate and punish killers of journalist Martinez Zogo, whose body was found on Sunday, five days after his abduction.

Describing the journalist’s murder a heinous, unspeakable and inadmissible crime, Minister Sadi said the perpetrators will not escape justice.

“Active research is continuing within the framework of the open investigation, to find and bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous, unspeakable and inadmissible crime, which cannot be justified under any pretext,” he said in a statement issued January 22.

“The Government of the Republic condemns, in the strongest terms, this attack directed against a man of the media, and reaffirms that Cameroon is a State of law, where freedoms are guaranteed, including freedom of the press, and where no one can and should not replace the competent courts, to do justice,” the Communication Minister stated.

The murder of Martinez Zogo is another instance of outright attack against the press in Cameroon, wrote former Presidential candidate Maurice Kamto.

The manager of Amplitude FM in Yaounde and host of the popular radio show, “Embouttiellages”, was abducted on Tuesday, January 17, while returning from work.

The government says investigators found his body around Soa, on the outskirts of Yaounde, on Sunday morning when it was already decomposing.

“The clothes found at the site of the macabre discovery were clearly recognised by the wife of the latter, as being his. The body, which had obviously suffered severe physical abuse, was transported to Yaoundé central hospital, where an autopsy was immediately performed, for its identification,” Minister Rene Sadi said.

The death of the journalist has revived memories of the death of television host, Samuel Wazizi, who died in detention in 2019.

Government’s promise of an investigation has never yielded any fruits since June 2020, when his death was officially announced.

The Social Democratic Front party, one President Biya’s government’s oppositions, has said the government must ensure killers of Zogo are punished.

Also, 2019 presidential candidate, Akere Muna, lamented the death of Martinez Zogo, likening it to that of Samuel Wazizi, whose death in detention has not been accounted for, despite government’s promise of accountability.

Mimi Mefo Info