What a francophone whispered to us (Journalist) at the Bafoussam police station.

Across the globe, journalism has become very dangerous and it is time for us to use our audiences and platforms to get the world to listen and change the already bad situation.

Journalist sitting on tarmac at the police station

Nine English speaking journalists had their rights violated by the forces of law and order in Bafoussam West region of Cameroon over the weekend 12/07/18.

When faced by the security officers at about 11pm that fateful day, we presented our identification papers and our mission in the region, but we were given deaf ears.

We experienced gross human rights violations during our detention at the Bafoussam police station post 1 beside (palais de justice) central town. We were forced to sit outside in the cold on tarmac all through the night. A majority of us had just T shirts on.

As we sad in the cold wondering why we were arrested, it only donned on us that the language (English) we were  speaking could be the only call for concern in the snack we were at to have dinner and a few drinks.

To buttress this point, I remember a francophone cautioned us to stop speaking English at the police station. He insisted that the language was going to put us into more trouble.

With this in mind, one begins to wonder what crime it is to speak one of the two official languages of Cameroon in any part of the country. And if this could happen to journalists, what more of other citizens of English expression living in French speaking parts of the country?

Journalists are continuously facing challenges in the exercise of their duties and profession in Cameroon. In spite all these, some journalists still exercise professionalism in the face of such intimidation and undue torture.

According to World News Publishing Focus, they advice journalists to commit  to:

#Speaking out on the importance of the protection of our profession
#Tell the stories of the violence experienced by our colleagues across the globe
#Point out how attacks against journalists affect society at large in our coverage.
#Sighlight  governments’ obligation to ensure journalists are able to work freely and without fear of repercussion,
and continue to do so when the institutions fail to prosecute the perpetrators of the violence against our colleagues.
#Cover the causal links between violence against journalists and the impunity behind the great majority of the attacks.
#Hold governments and institutions accountable, when they fail to prosecute the perpetrators of the violence against our colleagues.
                                         
                                           Ambe Macmillian A.