A CRY FOR JUSTICE: TEN YOUNG LIVES STOLEN—WE DEMAND THE TRUTH!

To His Excellency,

The President of the Republic of Cameroon,

May peace and grace rest upon you and your household.

We write today not just as mourning families, but as heartbroken citizens. We cry out on behalf of our lost loved ones, especially Joshua Ndansi, a bright, ambitious soul—the last-born in a family of six, a son, a brother, a friend, and a rising star whose light was extinguished far too soon.

Joshua was born in Bamenda, in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. He was a promising student of Government Technical High School Bamenda, who continued his academic journey at the Regional Marginal School in Ghana where he studied Marginal Engineering, and later advanced his career in Alberta, Canada. He returned to serve, contributing his talents across several national and international companies.

On May 6, 2024, in the Bona Beri neighborhood of Douala, Joshua and nine other promising Cameroonian youths—including Nafissaton Mayang, Nyomna Robert, and Mama—were murdered in cold blood. The weapon was not a gun or a knife, but a drink laced with poison, allegedly by one Ms. Nigane Charlotte, who was apprehended and detained.

The victims, within 24 hours, exhibited terrifying symptoms: sweating profusely, dilated pupils, mental confusion, blindness, and death. Every single one of them gone—ten lives silenced in a single night.

Ms. Nigane Charlotte was placed in custody at the Bonanjo Judicial Police Headquarters, and later New Bell Prison. Justice, it seemed, was finally on course—until it wasn’t.

Shockingly, on July 5th, 2024, less than two months later, we discovered—without any notification to the victims’ families—that the case had been brought to court and dismissed under the flimsy pretense that no family members were present. Not only were we not served notice, but the judgment (No. 746/cor of 05/07/24) was rendered in haste, breaking the usual, well-known delays of our judicial system.

Why the rush? What was being covered up? Who is protecting the accused?

Disturbingly, investigations have revealed that Ms. Nigane Charlotte has ties to a powerful government official, who is alleged to have bribed certain judicial actors to facilitate her release. She now walks freely among us, unbothered, unrepentant, and shielded by corruption—while ten families grieve without closure.

This is not only a betrayal of our justice system, but a dangerous signal to every Cameroonian: that life is cheap, and justice can be bought.

Your Excellency, we call upon you as our last beacon of hope, as a father, as a leader of conscience—to ensure this case is reopened, reinvestigated, and brought to a court of law transparently.

We demand:

The immediate re-arrest of Ms. Nigane Charlotte

An independent inquiry into the judicial corruption that led to her release

Protection for the families of the victims

We urge all Cameroonians, human rights defenders, and voices of justice across the world to rise with us. Let us make noise, let us protest, let us speak their names, and let justice ring out loud and clear in the streets of Douala, Yaoundé, Bamenda, and beyond!

Joshua Ndansi and his peers deserve better. Cameroon deserves better.

Let not these deaths be swept under the carpet of corruption.

Let not justice be silenced.

Let us fight until the courts reopen this case, and justice is served—not just for Joshua, but for the soul of our nation.

With hope and unwavering determination,

Samuel Ndansi