Cameroon detains five Nigerian pastors over politician’s abduction

Cameroonian authorities arrested and detained five Nigerian pastors.

The pastors were jailed alongside other residents of Cameroon’s Idabato II settlement, formerly known as the Bakassi peninsula.

Their detention came after armed men kidnapped Ewane Roland, the community’s Divisional Officer, in early October.

Local media said that Roland and another council official, Etongo Ismaeil, were kidnapped on October 1, 2024, by gunmen in a flying boat off the coast.

Eniola Alabo, a former head of the Yoruba community on the defunct Bakassi Peninsula, told Punch that the Cameroonian government blamed Roland’s abduction on Nigerians in the area and dispatched soldiers to arrest them.

“The Gendarmerie came to the community and started shooting sporadically into the air on the day they arrested some of these Nigerians,” Alabo said.

Iseoluwa Eniola, Feran Ajimosun, Idowu Ajimosun, Abiola Ajimosun, Blessing Ajimosun, Sunny Bassey, Feran Samagbeyi, and Godwin were among the Nigerians captured during the operation.

Bernard Okalia, Cameroon’s Governor for the South-West, paid a visit to Idabato on October 8, 2024.

He was claimed to have declared a total lockdown on the area, which was populated primarily by Nigerian fishermen.

According to Punch, Okalia gave a 72-hour ultimatum to both Nigerians and Cameroonians in the neighborhood to produce Roland alive.

Unable to work owing to the lockdown, Nigerians in the area reportedly violated the governor’s order in the first week of November to continue their fishing activities.

“They stayed at home doing nothing for three weeks. The people were hungry because their source of livelihood was put on hold. They had to go out to eat,” Alabo told the publication.

The move was alleged to have enraged Cameroonian officials, who sent soldiers to Idabato on the 10th and 11th of November 2024 to arrest Nigerians in the hamlet.

According to Alabo, the military attacked the community and began shooting intermittently into the air, injuring many Nigerians to varying degrees.

Churches were also closed during Nigerians’ lockdown in Idabato II.

However, when Nigerians resumed their daily occupations, churches opened on Sunday for Christians.

“Some soldiers invaded the Assembly Church of God in the area and arrested the Nigerian pastors there because they were told not to engage in any activities,” the Bakassi Peninsula ex-leader said.

“The names of the pastors arrested by Cameroonian soldiers that day were Adeleke Omoniye, Cascar Ubom, Etim Asuquo, Olamide Ayeye, and Umoh Atete.”

The Cameroonian military whisked the pastors away to unknown locales.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi OkoliCameroon detains five Nigerian pastors over politician’s abduction