Journalist protests against trafficking of Cameroonian girls to Middle East

Gwain Colbert, freelance journalist and Co-Founder of A Common FUTURE, a Bamenda based NGO, July 9, in female high heels, staged a protest match along the Bamenda Commercial Avenue as part of solidarity for Cameroonian girls trafficked to the Middle East, notably Kuwait and Lebanon.

The ‘Bring back our Girls from Kuwait’ campaign heightened following an investigative report on last Sunday’s edition of CRTV’s Cameroon Calling program where victims of human trafficking revealed frightening testimonies of their adventure to the oil rich Arab countries.

The match, Gwain says, is part of his current campaign against men’s violence on women. Gwain and sympathizers started the match from City Chemist Roundabout, ‘Liberty Square’ to the Ground-stand at Commercial Avenue. At the ground-stand, he handed a copy of the ongoing petition on social media initiated by Timothy Njobe and articulated by a media consultant, Tapang Ivo Tanku, to the government through North West Governor, Lele L’Afrique.

The 1Km walk in women’s high heel shoes, Gwain said, was meant to drive the adage “that he who wears the shoes knows where they pinch,” referring to the plight of the girls. The protest which is one in a series is intended to bring to public consciousness, the plight of young Cameroonian girls suffering in the diaspora for no fault of theirs, Gwain said.

The Cameroon Calling report ignited a debate on an issue known to many but hitherto ignored by public authorities and even Cameroonian families who for the most part are poverty stricken and will not take a second thought when an opportunity to leave the country for greener pastures shows up.