Rights Group Urges Investigations After Soldiers Execute Teacher in Ngoketunjia

The Coalition of Civil Society and Human Rights Organisations for Peace in the Anglophone Regions has condemned what it termed the summary execution of Mohfesam Smella, a popular businessman and secondary school teacher in Baba 1, Ngoketunjia Division of the restive North West.

The organisation said he was killed by Cameronian soldiers.

The soldiers also reportedly looted his shop and tortured unarmed civilians.

According to the rights group, members of the Cameroon Defence Forces brutally assassinated Smella on Monday, November 11, 2024, in Baba 1, Babessi Subdivision of Ngoketunjia Division.

They reportedly forced him out of his house and tortured him alongside other villagers before killing him.

The rights group stated, “Before his death, he and other civilians endured severe acts of torture and inhuman treatment for several hours.”

The military later took Mohfesame Smella away, and they found his lifeless body shortly along the roadside around Government High School (GHS) Vemgang, Baba 1, with traces of bullet wounds on his body.

Authorities reportedly seized huge sums of money and three mobile phones from the deceased.

“Among the mobile phones taken was that of his MTN Mobile Money transactions, with a reasonable sum of money therein,” the group wrote.

Smella owned a shop, bar, and MTN Mobile Money transfer and withdrawal services.

Condemning the gruesome acts by state forces, the rights group “called for an immediate independent and impartial investigation by the competent authority to arrest and prosecute perpetrators for their crimes.”

It also requested the international organisations and friendly nations to Cameroon to persuade the government to resolve the armed conflict in the Anglophone Regions.

In its eighth year now, the armed conflict continues to cause severe human and material damages to the population of these regions.

Mimi Mefo Info