Fame Bunyui Ayiseh, a journalist on duty at the CRTV Southwest regional station, who was kidnapped by armed men on the night of March 13, 2021 in Buea has been released.
Circumstances leading to her released are still unclear. Ines Indoa Balla, president of the Southwest branch of the Cameroon Journalist Trade Union reports that she was freed at about midnight, though no one has heard from her yet
According to reports, Fame Ayiseh was returning home when she was grabbed by unidentified men, who then drove her to an unknown destination.
In its 7am bilingual news edition of this Monday, March 15, the private channel Equinoxe TV , based in Douala, announces that the kidnappers demand a ransom of FCFA14 million.
In the meantime, her colleagues unanimously condemn this act, qualified as a serious attack on press freedom in Cameroon.
The National Union of Journalists of Cameroon, SNJC alongside the Association of English-Speaking Journalists in Cameroon CAMAEJ denounce the act, and recalls that the role of the journalist is to have an eye on society and that its activities contribute to building a society of freedoms.
It should be recalled that this is not the first time that a media professional is being a victim of exaction in the Anglophone Regions.
In early January, journalist Eyabo Becky Jeme, communication officer for Momo division, North West was killed in an ambush by separatists in the locality of Njikwa. Eyabo was in the procession of the S.D.O of the said division, who was returning from a working visit in her constituency.
Likewise, colleagues are regularly arrested by the security forces on suspicion of collaborating with armed separatist groups. The most famous of them is Samuel Wazizi , arrested in August 2019 and whose death was reported 10 months later.
