NCC to probe detention of journalists

Media watchdog opens investigation after military court bars two journalists from practicing.

The National Communication Council, NCC, has opened its own investigations after a military tribunal ordered two journalists to stop reporting and not to leave the country. A journalism lecturer was also dragged to the military tribunal.

NCC vice president Peter Essoka told the Committee to Protect Journalists, an international media freedoms pressure group, that the military had not consulted his commission, which hears media complaints. He said the council was investigating the matter.

Details about the case are sketchy. The military have not disclosed the exact nature of accusations against Felix Cyriaque Ebole Bola of Mutations, Rodrigue Tongue of Le Messager, Baba Wame of Yaounde University II’s school of journalism. The trio have been ordered not to discuss the issue.

But media reports said they had been questioned because they withheld national security information from authorities. One report said the journalists had documents containing details about the health of President Paul Biya, who is 82 years currently.

The three have been ordered to report to the military court every Monday.

“This interrogation may deter journalists and their sources from sharing information relating to national security, hampering the flow of news,” said Peter Nkanga, CPJ’s West Africa representative.

“We call on Cameroonian authorities to stop harassing Félix Cyriaque Ebolé Bola and Rodrigue Tongue and allow them to work and travel freely.”