Thursday, July 23, 2026

Media mogul, police officer, dozen others detained in Cameroon over journalist’s murder 

Martinez Zogo had alleged during one of his radio programmes that media mogul Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga was planning to kill him.

• February 8, 2023
Martinez Zogo
Martinez Zogo

Authorities in Cameroon have detained popular media mogul Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, a senior police officer and dozens of other people in connection to the murder of Radio host and journalist Martinez Zogo.

Mr Zogo, 50, was a popular voice in the West Africa nation, regularly speaking against cronyism. He was abducted in front of a police station in the capital city of Yaounde on January 17. 

Five days later, his corpse was found mutilated.

The murder attracted condemnation from notable people and groups around the globe, and calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

In an update on the matter, the president’s office said an additional seven people were detained yesterday including Mr Belinga, who was picked up at his Yaounde home.

The seven joined the other 20 people who were detained on Friday. 

According to VOA, a former presidential guard commander, who is Mr Belinga’s chief of security, and the head of his Vision 4 TV channel were also detained.

However, It’s not clear if anyone has been officially arrested or charged.

VOA also reported that Mr Zogo had said during one of his radio programmes before his death that Mr Belinga was planning to kill him for reporting on his alleged corrupt dealings with some officials in the country.

Two days before Mr Zogo was killed, a Catholic priest and radio host Jean Jacques Ola Bebe was also found dead in Yaounde after receiving several death threats believed to be from people in government.

Until now, the authorities in Cameroon are yet to issue any statement about Mr Bebe’s death, for whom the now late Zogo had called for justice for his murder.

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