By James Mukoh
Catherine Muambo is a Cameroonian mother of three.
On April 28, 2005, this wife was reportedly watching TV in the night in her
Buea residence, while her husband and kids had slept.
Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door and upon
opening the door to receive the visitor, we were told,it turned out that it was
a group of five men, with one of them pointing a gun at her. She screamed in
fright.
Her shouts woke-up the husband Paul Esie Gbwema,who
rushed to the living room to find out what was happening; but Mr. Gbwema who is a
blacksmith, was arrested and whisked away, after the house was searched and some of his work tools
confiscated.
Mr. Gbwema never knew the security agents were
taking him to a detention cell in Bonanjo in Douala. He had been accused of
illegal manufacturing and selling of arms.
Reports said Mr. Gbwema was later transferred to a
unknown location, and up to date his family members claim he has since then not been seen, despite
searches by relations.Could he have been killed? His family is wondering.
Frightened and to avoid further molestation from
security, Mrs. Gbwema in January 2008, moved to the town of Muyuka to live with
her relations for safety.
Mrs. Gbwema, according to family sources, was still
living in fear and one evening that same January she said she was going to visit a friend, and
since then she has not been seen. It is not clear whether she must have been
arrested and also whisked off to an unknown destination or that
she simply relocated elsewhere to avoid detection by security agents.
Here is a mother whose husband is feared dead yet
she has no peace of mind in her own country. Isn’t it time to give Cameroonian
women, who make up more than 50 % of the population, more protection and
attention? Should a wife be molested because her husband has allegedly
committed a crime? These are the questions on the lips of many Human Rights
advocates
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