Detention of Three-Month-Old Baby and Six Others in Ndop Sparks Outrage
By Andre Momo – BaretaNews
The colonial Senior Divisional Officer (SDO) of Ngokeitunja County is facing growing public condemnation following the reported detention of a three-month-old baby, a breastfeeding mother, a two-year-old child, and four other civilians in Ndop, the county’s chief town.
Local media sources reveal that the colonial administrator ordered troops loyal to the regime to abduct the civilians on suspicion of being relatives of Ambazonian freedom fighters. The arrests, which took place under questionable legal circumstances, are reportedly part of a pressure tactic to secure the release of a high-ranking colonial gendarmerie officer currently held by pro-independence forces.
The detainees, including the infant and the breastfeeding mother, are said to be enduring deplorable conditions in custody. Reliable sources report that since their arrest, relatives have been denied the right to deliver food and basic necessities to them. On Sunday, June 29, colonial forces reportedly refused all food brought for the victims, demanding instead the release of their captured officer before providing any form of sustenance to the detainees.
This act has drawn sharp criticism from human rights advocates, civil society actors, and the wider Ambazonian public, who have described the arrests as illegal, inhumane, and a gross violation of both local and international laws. “This is an outrageous abuse of power and a stain on human dignity,” one rights advocate told BaretaNews.
This is not the first time the colonial regime has employed collective punishment tactics in the ongoing conflict. In a previous case, a woman in Buea—allegedly linked to the renowned Ambazonian commander “General No Pity”—was arrested and detained without charge. Similar retaliatory arrests have been documented in Kumba and other parts of Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia).
As calls for the immediate release of the detainees intensify, many warn that such actions further expose the regime’s disregard for the rule of law and deepen the humanitarian crisis in the conflict-hit territory.
