Anglophone Crisis: Popular Bamenda Radio Host, Rights Defender Receives Multiple Death Threats

By Martial Gnoukapasir 

image courtesy of IFJ

Known to be daring in his outings and for constantly castigating, denouncing and documenting cases of human rights abuses, including kidnappings for ransome, unlawful arrests and detention, maimings, extrajudicial killings by both state and non state actors in the ongoing anglophone armed conflict facing the north west region of Cameroon, popular investigative Bamenda radio host Colbert Gwain, who doubles as content creator of the online news portal-The Colbert Factor, has continue to receive death threats to his life and that of his family.

For the past few months, the host of the flagship political radio program have been confessing to colleagues,  brandishing threat  messages forwarded to him  and his family from unknown sources, for outrightly speaking on the cases of violations in the conflict that has rocked the two English-speaking regions for seven years and counting.

The threats doubled recently, when he decried and publish an investigative report on Easter Saturday night, on his online news portal, The Colbert Factor, pointing accusing fingers to non-state actors for the brutal killing of a 77-year-old U.S citizen with Cameroonian nationality by name Emmanuel Chiabi last month in Bamenda.

The report also accuses the non state armed men for the killing of three other youths, that same Easter Saturday night.

State authorities from our findings have continue to survey his neighborhood, while other rights defenders like him and colleagues have continued to receive countless number of calls from anonymous persons.

Colbert Gwain confessed to MNews237 that, with an investigative programmed publication he embarked on, which exposes cases of alleged corruption,  mismanagement and non proper dislodging of funds by close to 50 municipalities in the conflict stricken English speaking zones in over four years, he's afraid the threat to his life and that on his family will double.

 

It hasn't been long that the death of another embezzlement whistle blower journalist by name Martinez Zogo, who until his demise, served with amplitude FM in the nation's capital Yaounde, was found death in the streets.

Those who've been monitoring the political and security situation of Cameroon has expressed fear for his life.

To note that Colbert Gwain, is one amongst the few investigative and daring ournalists still staying and working in Bamenda, which happens to be the heart of the war that has killed thousands, displacing many in and out of the country.

Many rights defenders just like him alongside other journalists who have been daring enough to castigate cases of human rights abuses as a result of the conflict,  have been forced to relocate for their own safety and some locked up in detention centres.