University of Buea Student, Mboh Jeres Akua regains freedom after months of illegal detention

By Mike Klaus and David Atangana

University of Buea student, Mboh Jeres Akua has finally regained his freedom after almost 4 months in detention. The level 600 student in Public Administration was arrested on March 15, 2023, on the same day Ngule Linus, was tortured to death by military forces for alleged involvement in separatist activities.

Jeres was kept incommunicado for close to 1 month after his arrest, despite the best efforts of his lawyers to secure his release. He was later moved to the Buea central prison where he has been till it was ordered for him to be released.

The defense team of the student maintained there were no legal grounds for keeping Jeres under custody.

According to Barrister Tamfu Richard, Jeres was “accused of charges best plotted by elements of the SEMIL Buea and their accomplices after they had killed his brother Ngule Linus Fonteh while torturing him…”

After spending several months in detention, an order came from the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defense, executed under the supervision of the direction of military justice, for the student to be released with immediate effect.

Jeres reunited with his family on July 07, 2023, to the delight of his defense team. “Thank you all to the lawyers of the defense team and human rights advocates who spent sleepless nights, sacrificed their time, and put up their expertise pro bono in the follow-up of this file.” The defense team appreciated it after the release.

His release comes a day after the corpse of Ngule Linus was removed from the Buea Hospital mortuary following months of legal battles with the government.

Upon his release, Jeres appeared in a video on the evening of Friday, July 7, 2023, with a family member in a festive mood after regaining freedom.

“As you can see he is free. We are about to go home. It is already getting dark. He is smiling already. Freedom is good,” said a family member.

The illegality of the continuous detention of Jeres has astounded many, especially given that his friend died in detention, and a court order was recently signed to ensure the release of the corpse:

“the Examining Magistrate of the Buea military tribunal on June 23rd, 2023 signed a Court Order that legally released the corpse previously sealed by the government to the family, without securing the release of the latter(Mboh Jeres).”

This release is a great victory for defense Counsel Tanyi Nicodemus who had vowed to legally secure his release.