Human rights groups demands release of Nigerian journalist jailed in Cameroon

Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders and civil society groups have demanded the release of Ahmed Abba, a Nigerian journalist jailed in Cameroon “for reporting Boko Haram activities”.

Abba, a Radio France Internationale correspondent in Cameroon, was given a ten-year jail term in April 2017 by the Cameroonian government.

In a statement jointly issued on Thursday, the groups, numbering 36, condemned Abba’s “unjust” trial.

They have embarked on a campaign to step up “public and political pressure” on the Cameroonian authorities, “who should never have arrested Abba”.

RSF also said it is setting up a committee to bring together well-known figures from around the world and especially Africa.

“The committee has decided to begin online by creating a Facebook page in which we will share the messages of his supporters,” said Cléa Kahn-Sriber, head of RSF’s Africa desk.

“This is just the first step. The campaign will grow in strength if the authorities do not free Ahmed Abba.”

The support committee includes several regional and international non-governmental organisations that defend journalists and human rights, such as Africtivistes (a pro-democracy coalition of African cyber-activists), Amnesty International, journalist in danger, (JED), the International Federation of Journalists and the Committee to Protect Journalists, which has named Abba as one of the winners of its 2017 International Press Freedom Award.

Angela Quintal, CPJ Africa program coordinator, said each day Abba spends behind bars “is another travesty of justice, which sends a chilling message to the media community in Cameroon”.

She also urged the Cameroonian government to free Abba “without delay and to right this injustice,” adding that “the world is watching”.

On April 24, a military court in Yaoundé sentenced Abba to ten years in prison on a charge of “laundering the proceeds of a terrorist act”.

Abba has, however, said he is innocent of the allegation while insisting that he always kept a “professional journalist’s distance” with the group.

The groups said in the statement that the proceedings against Abba were marked by “gross irregularities”.

He was also said to have been held incommunicado after his arrest on July 30, 2015, and “tortured” by the Cameroonian security agencies “for nearly three months”.

“No hard evidence was ever produced during the trial, which was postponed 18 times,” the statement read.