The mutilated body of a prominent Cameroonian journalist has been found near the capital Yaounde, five days after he was abducted by unidentified assailants.
Martinez Zogo, the director of private radio station Amplitude FM, was abducted on January 17 while attempting to enter a police station to escape his assailants, according to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
RSF said that Zogo, the host of the popular daily show Embouteillage (Gridlock), had lately spoken on-air about an alleged embezzlement involving a media outlet with government connections.
The 51-year-old frequently addressed issues of corruption on air, never bothered call out prominent figures by name.
According to RSF, at around 8 p.m. (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday, police in a Yaounde suburb heard a loud noise outside their police station and discovered Zogo’s badly damaged car.
“Police saw a black vehicle… driving off. They later came to realise this was an abduction,” the organisation said.
Zogo’s colleague, Charlie Amie Tchouemou, editor-in-chief of Amplitude FM, confirmed Zogo’s abduction and subsequent death. The police and the government have not commented yet.
Appearance and death as a further sign of the perils of reporting in the African country.
“Cameroonian media has just lost one of its members, a victim of hatred and barbarism,” the Cameroon Journalists’ Trade Union said in a statement.
“Where is the freedom of the press, freedom of opinion and freedom of expression in Cameroon when working in the media now entails a mortal risk?”
Source: Aljazeera News
