Daughter of prof detained in Cameroon tells him not to worry

Bakare said supporters suspect he was detained after criticizing how the government has handled a secessionist movement in some English-speaking areas.

Charges against him include issuing a death threat; insulting constitutional bodies, specifically the military; and inciting violence in a Facebook post, according to supporters including the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Requests for comment sent to the Cameroon embassy in Washington, D.C., have not been returned.

Bakare, who has been married to Nganang for 17 years, said she was waiting for her husband to join her in Zimbabwe when he was detained by authorities at an airport in the capital, Yaounde.

“We were quite devastated by the news,” said Bakare, who lives with her husband and daughter in Hopewell, New Jersey. She said the family had been in Africa visiting relatives. “We were expecting him here at the airport to join us for Christmas.”

She said Nganang appeared in court in Yaounde on Dec. 15, but the proceeding was adjourned to Jan. 18, to allow prosecutors time to find witnesses. He is now being held at a maximum security prison, where supporters recently brought him a mattress to sleep on, according to his wife.

Bakare said she has only been able to speak with her husband once but says he is in good spirits.

“It’s obviously outrageous; he is not a violent man,” she said. “He has a long history of dissent against the Cameroonian government but has worked passionately to have a better future for his country and his family there.”

Lawyers, journalists, prominent authors, writers, human rights advocates and others have organized to call for his release.

“If the government of President Paul Biya thinks the world does not care about Patrice’s arrest, it is in for a surprise,” said Angela Quintal, Africa program co-ordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists. “The outpouring of support for Patrice has been heartening.”

Nganang, 37, has been teaching in the United States since 2000 and at Stony Brook University on eastern Long Island since 2007, according to colleague Robert Harvey. He is scheduled work as a professor at Princeton University next spring. He has published 12 books, scholarly essays, novels and books of poetry.

Spokesmen for Democratic U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer of New York and Cory Booker of New Jersey said they are aware of the situation.

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Follow Eltman on Twitter at @feltman41.

Frank Eltman, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Daughter of prof detained in Cameroon tells him not to worry

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