A Cameroonian social media activist, Steve Akam, who vanished last month, has been found in a military court cell in Yaoundé, Cameroon, with evidence of torture, according to Human Rights Watch.
Akam’s lawyers suspect he was illegally returned to Cameroon from Gabon, where he had lived for ten years.
They accessed him in custody, discovering he was partially paralyzed and suffering severe visual impairments.
Akam, a vocal critic of President Paul Biya, was last seen in a video online showing him handcuffed and surrounded by Cameroonian police near the Gabon border.
Known on TikTok as Ramon Cotta, with over 30,000 followers, Akam recently accused Biya of waging war in Cameroon’s anglophone regions to cling to power.
Human Rights Watch’s Ilaria Allegrozzi stated that Akam may have lost his sight and mobility due to torture, urging Cameroon to provide medical care and investigate the abuse.
The government has not yet commented.
