A popular journalist from a radio station broadcasting in Yaoundé, Martinez Zogo, missing for several days, was found dead, his media and a police source said on condition of anonymity.
“I went to Ebogo (15 kilometers north of Yaoundé) early this morning where I saw and recognized the body of Martinez Zogo.
The deputy prosecutor was present and his wife was there to recognize him,” said Charly Tchouemou, editor-in-chief of Amplitude FM radio where the journalist worked.
The death was confirmed by a police source on condition of anonymity.
Asked, the authorities and the family did not respond immediately.
"The gendarmerie had been warned by a man who was going to the fields and saw his body", assured Charly Tchouemou, specifying that Martinez Zogo was naked and his corpse had entered a state of decomposition.
His body was then taken to the morgue of the Yaoundé central hospital, the same source said.
Circumstances of disappearance remain unclear
Martinez Zogo, 51, was the general manager of the private radio station Amplitude FM, based in Yaoundé, and the host of a daily program, Embouteillage, broadcast from Monday to Friday and very popular in the Cameroonian capital.
The circumstances of his disappearance on Tuesday remain unclear and an investigation was opened the same day, said a police source on condition of anonymity.
⚡️ #Cameroon 🇨🇲: RSF strongly condemns the kidnapping of the director general of Amplitude FM radio, Martinez Zogo, on the evening of January 17, and calls on the authorities to do everything possible to find him and bring those responsible to justice.
👇https://t.co/khI1lmzwyk pic.twitter.com/FauMjjUa8d
— RSF (@RSF_inter) January 20, 2023
In a press release, the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) claimed that Martinez Zogo had been "kidnapped" on January 17 around 8 p.m. in front of a police station on the outskirts of Yaoundé.
He was seen for the last time in front of a gendarmerie station, the aforementioned police source had confirmed, adding that he "does not have any clues to affirm that it is a kidnapping".