Revelations about the secret missions of Chief Moja Moja
revelations about the secret missions of Chief Moja Moja
Chief Moja Moja is accused of torture, abuse of office, kidnapping and conditional threats to certain populations of South West Cameroon.
In a press release published on August 22, 2022, Me Amungwa, lawyer at the Cameroon Bar and member of the defense collective of Ayuk Sissiku Tabe announced the opening of an investigation against John Ewome Ekobo, known as Moja Moja, soldier of the rapid intervention battalion (Bir) and traditional chief of the Bwassa village in South West Cameroon. This investigation follows a complaint lodged with the military court of Yaoundé, as well as with the State Secretariat for Defense in charge of the national gendarmerie. Me Amungwa Tanyi affirms that he was heard on August 22, 2022 with some of his fellow lawyers in the context of this case. In addition to the complaint, the lawyers say they have made available to the investigators several videos showing the soldier engaging in barbaric and inhuman scenes on certain populations living in the department of Fako in the South West. The complaint by the lawyers of the Ayuk Sissiku collective has been filed since July 12, 2022.
Me Amungwa Tanyi explains that the acts of which the soldier is accused have been perpetrated for more than a year. The populations of the Southwest live in psychosis following the treatment inflicted on them by this soldier from Bir. Several human rights organizations have drawn the attention of the authorities to the actions of Moja Moja. In an article published last week in the magazine Jeunes Afrique, it was mentioned that this soldier says he has a mission which consists in eliminating any desire for independence in the department of Fako, to which his hometown of Buea belongs. Moja Moja is presented as a propagandist of the unitary state and attacks in a violent or even brutal way any person who holds a discourse contrary to that of the unitary state.
“We have identified several people who have been abused through the actions of Chief Moja Moja in the department of Fako. This soldier from the Rapid Intervention Battalion kidnaps the men and women he beats up. Several people who were victims of these cases of inhuman treatment were injured while others saw their feet broken,” testifies the lawyer.
The lawyers say they are surprised to see how the administrative and judicial authorities of the South-West region have remained silent since the populations of this region denounce the treatment inflicted on them by a Bir soldier. These lawyers hope that the investigation opened at the gendarmerie will lead to a fair trial during which the incriminated soldier will answer for his actions before the military court.
