His party, the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM), has described his death not as another custodial fatality but as a \u201cpolitical assassination\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speaking to City Press on Tuesday, CRM representative Marius maintained that Ekane\u2019s detention was unlawful, arguing that he was held without an arrest warrant, denied proper conditions, and deprived of his medication despite known health complications.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is definitely an assassination. I would even call it premeditated murder,\u201d he said, extending condolences to Ekane\u2019s family.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ekane died inside a military camp rather than a civilian prison, raising further questions about the legality of his detention. His judicial status at the time of his death remains unknown. According to the CRM, neither his family nor his lawyers had been provided with information regarding whether he had been charged, was awaiting trial or had been convicted of any offence.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Marius said the political climate in Cameroon was already tense, with unresolved conflict in the southwest and northwest regions, as well as deep divisions following the widely contested October elections. He argued that the death fuelled public anger and heightened fears among opposition activists.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThis regime only understands violence,\u201d he claimed, adding that political leaders across the opposition spectrum had condemned the incident.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ekane\u2019s family is said to be devastated. His eldest son last saw him a week before his death and reportedly left the military facility, fearing his father might not survive his detention.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Opposition leaders insist the government must be held accountable. They accuse authorities of targeting critical voices, pointing to previous killings of journalists and clergy. The Humanitarian Coordinator for the party, as well as the CRM\u2019s leadership in exile, has called for continued nationwide \u201cghost town\u201d protests, which were observed over the weekend.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Marius criticised the central government for failing to send a delegation to the family or provide a full explanation. The Ministry of Defence issued only a brief statement confirming Ekane\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Opposition groups now plan to intensify political pressure, arguing that Cameroon is witnessing a pattern of suppression that requires urgent regional and international attention.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":20345,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-20344","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Cameroon\u2019s opposition has accused the government of responsibility for the death of activist Anise Ekane, who died while being held in a military facility under unclear circumstances. ","published_date":null,"news_description":"Cameroon\u2019s opposition has accused the government of responsibility for the death of activist Anise Ekane, who died while being held in a military facility under unclear circumstances. ","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/20344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/20344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24417,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/20344\/revisions\/24417"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=20344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}