Yaounde: Xenophobe, Sebastien Ebala Arrested for Derogatory & Insultive Language against Anglophone Women

By Tata Mbunwe

Yaounde-based xenophobe, Sebastien Ebala, has been arrested after he abused and called women from the English-speaking Regions, who are living in Yaounde, “dirty” and “unkempt”.

He also made degrading statements against the Bamouns and the Mboudas of the West Region, in a viral video released earlier this week.

Reports say he has been arrested by Gendarmes and detained at the State Secretariat of Defence, SED, in Yaounde and has been summoned to appear before the Central Judicial Research Service of the National Gendarmerie on Thursday, May 11.

Part of Ebala’s statement made in the video stated:

“Recently, I have noticed that when you board a taxi, most taxi drivers are very dirty and have strong smells. In addition, some passengers are equally very dirty, especially women and young girls who originate from the North West and South West. They stink uncontrollably, it is unbearable!” Ebala said in the video.

The native of Yaounde called went on to say Anglophones have come to “saturate” the city and should return to their war-torn area to face the consequences of the ongoing Anglophone Crisis.

“People should not come and saturate Yaounde… It’s true they say there’s a war there, but it’s you who started the war and should bear the consequences. Don’t come and disturb people [… It’s especially the people from Noun, the people from the North-West and South-West. They are coming to invade Yaoundé… When we talk you will say that we are asking people to go home. You leave from Bamenda, Buea and you come to fill Yaoundé,” a loosely translated part of his statement read.

He also labelled people from Mbouda as “pigs” and used other derogatory words against women from the Anglophone Regions.

Ebala’s utterances have been widely criticised for inciting tribal hate, with many people calling on authorities to ensure he is punished based on existing laws against hate speech.

One of those who have confronted Sebastien Ebala for his inappropriate comments, is the peace advocate, Esther Njomo Omam, founder and executive director of Reach Out NGO.

She chastised Ebala for undermining peace and social cohesion and for abusing the dignity of Anglophone women.

“These are the spoilers who promote hate speech and lead others to error and before we know it the whole country will be on fire,” she said.

“This man has to apologize to all the women and girls from the Anglophone Regions whose dignity he has rubbished. Let him bring soap, body lotion and perfume to wash and rob on their bodies before the women take to the streets to protect their dignity. Enough is enough,” she added.

She also said his arrest is not sufficient; he should be made to publicly apologize to women from the English-speaking regions.

Ebala’s statement was not the first he was making against people. He has faced lawsuits and imprisonment in the past for defaming people, including FECAFOOT President, Samuel Eto’o.

He landed into trouble earlier this year when he linked the popular journalist Paul Chouta to the brutal killing of journalist Martinez Zogo.

Chouta never hesitated to file a case against him. It would appear that Ebala has not learnt from his past mistakes.