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A popular Cameroonian radio journalist who went missing after what media rights groups called an abduction was found dead on Sunday, his employer and police said.
Martinez Zogo was the Managing Director of Amplitude FM, a commercial radio station based in Yaounde, and the star host of the popular daily Embouteillage (Gridlock).
On the air, the 51-year-old regularly tackled corruption cases and didn’t hesitate to hear the names of key figures. He has been missing since Tuesday.
“I went to Ebogo (15km north of Yaounde) early this morning where I saw and recognized the body of Martinez Zogo. A representative of the prosecutor was present and his wife was there to identify him. There was. AFP.
Zogo’s death was confirmed to AFP by a police source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A large crowd gathered when Zogo’s body was taken to Yaoundé Central Hospital’s morgue for an autopsy, family members of the victim told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Social media is flooded with posts following his disappearance that Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned as a “brutal kidnapping of a journalist”.
Zogo’s badly damaged car was found outside a police station on the outskirts of Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital, on Tuesday, according to RSF.
Sadibou Marong, head of RSF’s sub-Saharan Africa office, told AFP, “There are many areas of murkiness regarding the circumstances of his brutal abduction.”
“Authorities must launch a rigorous, thorough and independent investigation to uncover the chain of responsibilities and circumstances that led to this sad event,” Marong said.
Cameroon’s National Union of Journalists condemned the “heinous assassination” and on January 25 urged media personnel to wear black as a sign of mourning.
The International Press, a Vienna-based press freedom group, called on Cameroonian authorities to “immediately investigate this horrific murder and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.”
Opposition parties were also outraged, with Social Democratic Front (SDF) vice-president Jean-Michel Ninchu denouncing “a crime that cannot go unpunished”.
On Sunday, several Cameroonian TV channels dedicated programs to Zogo’s death.
Cameroonian-French writer Calliste Beyara said he was “disheartened and saddened” by his death.
“I knew he died as soon as it was announced that he had been kidnapped,” she told Info TV.
“We can ask ourselves the question: Who’s next? To realize that each of us is in this situation because of something we might have said. I can.”
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