Cameroon Terror Group Says It Killed Journalist In Case Of ‘Mistaken Identity’

Terrorists in the Anglophone region of Cameroon have admitted they killed a young journalist and said it was a case of “mistaken identity”.

Anye Nde Nsoh was shot dead outside a neighbourhood bar and club in Bamenda on May 7. 

A spokesman for the separatist terrorists said they launched an operation against the club, hoping to catch another man there, a senior officer in the Cameroonian armed forces.

But friends and colleagues of the journalist rubbished the explanation, saying there was little chance the 26-year-old Nsoh could have been confused for the soldier.

Protests against the killing were held in Bamenda on Tuesday May 9.

Nsoh was an active member of the Cameroon Association of English-speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ), and his killing has attracted both national and international attention. 

Protest

His peers dressed in black and their press jackets, carrying sheets of paper with inscriptions such as “journalism is not a crime”, “stop killing journalists”, “Stop the War” and “mistaken identity -unacceptable”.

They are asking for immediate arrest, trial, and detention of those who carried out the attack.

They also stopped at the family residence where they consoled his aunt, who brought Anye up after his parents died. 

Nsoh died leaving behind an 11-month-old daughter.

Mistaken Identity

Following an outrage after the murder of the journalist, one of the self-proclaimed “separatist leaders”, acknowledged Nsoh was shot by one of theirs.

In a video posted on his YouTube account, Emmanuel Ndong popularly known as  Capo Daniel, said it was the case of a “mistaken identity”.

“I have spoken to the unit that carried out the operation,” Capo said. “I have reviewed the statement that was made by the fighter that pulled the trigger. I am satisfied with the investigation and I want to report to the Ambazonian people to know exactly what happened,”.

“It was a case of a mistaken identity. There’s a Cameroonian Commanding Officer who often visits that bar. This particular individual was the target of the operation that was carried out by Ambazonian forces,” he claimed.

Capo Daniel further said the soldier who pulled the trigger “regrets the incident”. 

The explanation has been dismissed by friends in the media who can’t believe Nsoh looked like the targeted officer. 

“Mistaken identity means you know the person you are looking for and then you see someone who resembles him physically aim at him. Does the young man look like any army commander to you?” Anye’s former employer said.

Targeted

After the killing, family and friends said they suspected the killing had been a targeted assassination. 

The young journalist had been threatened by separatist terrorists before, they said.

Nsoh had just arrived at the Don Simon snack bar, and was preparing to do a turn as an “animator”, a hype-man to the DJ playing at the club.

He had just gone to get fresh batteries for the sound system’s microphone when the separatists arrived. 

Anye was seen dropping to the ground, but people did not realise he had been shot until after the military arrived and chased the terrorists away.

Government officials say they have opened immediate investigations into the killing of the young journalist.

At least six journalists in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon have suffered physical attack or kidnappings from separatist fighters. Separatists have often accused the media of aiding government propaganda. Government on its part often accuses the media of aligning with separatists ideologies.