A prominent Cameroonian opposition leader, Anicet Ekane, died on Monday while in detention in Yaounde, the vice president of his political party confirmed to AFP.
“Anicet Ekane died this morning in Yaounde, where he had been transferred after his arrest at the end of October in Douala,” said Valentin Dongmo of the African Movement for the New Independence of Cameroon, known as Manidem.
The exact circumstances surrounding the seventy four year old’s death have not yet been established.
Ekane, a left wing nationalist figure, was arrested in Douala on October 24, one day before the release of the presidential election results that secured ninety two year old Paul Biya an eighth term in office.
He was known to be an ally of fellow opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who challenged Biya’s forty three year rule in the October 12 election.
According to Dongmo, “Anicet Ekane was arrested in Douala and later moved to Yaounde, where he was detained at the State Defence Secretariat. It was during this period that his health began to decline.”
Dongmo added that party officials repeatedly appealed to authorities, including the military court administration, requesting that Ekane be moved to a hospital with adequate medical facilities. However, he said those requests were not granted.
