Christopher Jator Njechu
20 October 2008
Two police officers, who were recently detained at the judicial police headquarters in Yaounde, have been reportedly whisked to Kondengui Central Prison where they are under preventive detention.
Police Inspectors Ibrahim Ndam and Hamidou Ndam of the Yaounde Central Police Station, detained since October 15, are accused of collusion and leaking intelligence information to Equato-Guinean security.They were also charged for kidnapping a colonel and former paymaster of the Equato-Guinean Army, Cipriano Nguema Mba.
The Post learnt from a police source that the duo is being charged for subverting judicial procedures, illegal arrest and contravening international instruments.The colonel is said to have been granted political asylum status in Cameroon in 2003 when he fled Equatorial Guinea after his government foiled a coup plot to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
It was only on October 6, 2008, that Colonel Nguema Mba, with a valid refugee status, was picked up and put in police custody without a warrant of arrest.A police source revealed that Mba was due to be secretly handed to Equatorial Guinea authorities in Malabo in return for a reward of FCFA 15 million.
This, it is said, happened in collusion of the two Cameroonian police officers and the Foreign Enquiry Services in Malabo.The Post, however, learnt that in line with some errors at his detention centre, the refugee had access to a phone which he used to alert the Equato-Guinean Embassy and United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, all in Yaounde.
The Colonel was, therefore, conveyed to the Equato-Guinean Embassy, then the UNHCR where he is awaiting the outcome of the matter.According to our source, the Colonel fled his country with two of his close associates before being arrested recently.
In October 2004, The Post learnt, an Equato-Guinean court sentenced Colonel Nguema Mba to 30 years imprisonment in absentia, after he was found guilty of plotting to overthrow his President.
From September 6 to 19, 2005, following investigations by the court, Colonel Nguema Mba was found culpable of rebellion, treason and embezzlement of between FCFA 300 and 516 million of public funds.Consequently, he was slammed capital punishment still in absentia.
Until last week, Colonel Nguema's whereabouts were unknown to authorities of his country.
But Ibrahim Ndam, The Post learnt, leaked the information to Malabo intelligence.According to some local tabloids, Ibrahim and Hamidou, told investigating police officers that they had detained the foreigner with the blessing of a certain Commissioner Nyebe.
The situation seems to be giving the government of Cameroon breathless time following the already strained relations between her and Equatorial Guinea.It is in this light that External Relations Minister, Henri Eyebe Ayissi, spent most of last week granting audiences with officials of the UNHCR, Equato-Guinea Ambassador to Cameroon, the Secretary of State in charge of the Gendarmerie, the General Delegation for National Security and other government officials.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Post. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
