A Lagos-based Cameroonian journalist, Simon Ateba, has been arrested by Cameroonian authorities as he investigated the conditions of Nigerian refugees camped in the country’s far north.
According to a report by Premium times,the journalist, who managed to leave a message on his Facebook page before he was locked up Friday, said he was arrested for venturing, without permission, into a refugee camp with 50,000 Nigerians.
He later told a colleague that the authorities were threatening to charge him for espionage – saying they suspect he was spying for the extremist Boko Haram sect.
It was learnt that Mr. Ateba received a grant from the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, Abuja, to investigate the ordeals and suffering of Nigerians who fled into Cameroon as their communities came under sustained attacks from the extremist Boko Haram sect.
Dayo Aiyetan, executive director of the centre, confirmed that his organisation is aware of Mr. Ateba’s travels and investigation.
“We are saddened that he is being incarcerated for doing his job, and we demand his immediate release,” Mr. Aiyetan told PREMIUM TIMES Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ateba on Saturday morning left more messages on his Facebook page detailing his ordeal in the hands of the Cameroonian authorities.
He said, “Was given my phone for five minutes to make some calls. Just spent my first night in Mokolo cell with two Nigerians who fled Boko Haram terrorist attacks between Gwoza and Maiduguri in a town or village called Sigesia. My first night in a cell in Cameroon far north was because I went to a refugee camp with about 50,000 Nigerians to do an independent reporting without they allowing me to do so.
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