Prominent Cameroon journalist found dead after abduction

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, director of private radio station Amplitude FM, was kidnapped on January 17 as he tried to enter a police station to escape his attackers, media watchdog Reporters Without

Borders (RSF) said. Zogo, presenter of the well-known daily programme Embouteillage (Gridlock), had recently been talking on-air about a case of alleged embezzlement

involving a media outlet with government connections, RSF said. On the air, the 51-year-old regularly tackled cases of corruption, not hesitating to question important

personalities by name. According to RSF, police in a Yaounde suburb heard a loud noise outside their police station and found Zogo’s badly damaged car at approximately 8pm

(19:00 GMT) on Tuesday. “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. ‘Victim of hatred and

barbarism’ Media advocates described his disappearance 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?”