Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
Douala Is Once More In Douala In Shock. On Friday, September 18, 2026, Another Case Of INFANTICIDE Was Registered In the nation’s economic capital, Douala. A 12 Year Old Student (Form Two), Died From “SEXUAL VIOLENCE”. Official Statistics Show That 13 Cases Of INFANTICIDES Were Registered In The Country In The First Four Months Of 2026. Who Is To Blame For The Degenerating Situation?
Though the outcry in the country in the last couple of weeks is on the alarming increase in the number of women being killed (femicide), the killing of children (infanticide) has also unfortunately been on the rise in the last few years.
Statistics that were presented to Parliament in June 2026, by the Minister of Women Empowerment and the Family, Prof Marie Therese Abena Ondoa, show for example that 13 cases of infanticides were registered in the country, within the first four months of this year (2026). That is, 13 children were killed in Cameroon from January to April 2026.
As the minister also explained, the real number of children that were killed in the country within that period of four months, might even be more than the 13 cases that were registered, because there might have been cases that the local authorities, security forces, local human right associations, civil society groups and other institutions and groups that the ministry collaborates with, did not know. A case of infanticide might not be reported, as there are some families that instead scandalously hide or cover up such nefarious or diabolic acts, when committed by members of the families. A child might die as a result of rape by her father, uncle, or grandfather, and the family decides to conceal the truth, and give a fake reason for the child’s death.
Another Case Reported In Douala
One of the latest cases of infanticide in the country happened in the nation’s economic capital, Douala, on Friday, September 18, 2026. Ozane Mokoko, a 12 year old Form Two student of ‘College de la Salle, which before now has been a reputed State owned technical college in Douala, was reportedly found dead in one of the school toilets. The corpse was taken to hospital, and the hospital report said she died from “Sexual Violence. This was understood to mean that she was raped and killed. It was not known whether the macabre took place in toilet where her corpse was found, or if she was raped and killed elsewhere, and her corpse dumped at the school toilet, It should be noted that the campus of ;College de la Salle” which is one of the biggest colleges in Douala, is quite large. The school is located close to the 4th Police District .Investigation is ongoing to track done the hoodlum or hoodlums that committed the atrocious act. The corpse of the young Ozane Mokoko, is lying at the mortuary of the Laquintinie Hospital.
The incident which comes in the second week of new school year, has left the Douala population in shock. Parents are once more asking themselves the difficult or intriguing question, of whether it it safe to sent their children to school these days. .
Rape, Torture, Murder
Meanwhile, it should be noted that quite a number of cases of infanticides that have been registered in the country, in the last few years, were as a result of rape, or were rape related issues. Imagine a child of one, two, three, four, five years been savagely raped by an adult, or even by her father, uncle or grandfather! There are cases of children that die directly from rape, while there are some cases that the children are killed by the rapists after the horrible acts, for fear that they would be exposed by their victims.
There are also cases of children that die from torture inflicted on them by some callous fellows or beasts, passing around for human beings. There are even cases of children being ‘slaughtered’ to dead, murdered. That is, premeditated murder. Terrible!
The most recent case that shook the country was that of a child in Yaounde, Mathis, who after his murder became widely known as ‘Bebe Mathis”. The father of Bebe Mathis, who hails from the West Region, and a neighbour (father or a popular female artist) who also hails from the West Region, had a quarrel in a bar in their quarter in Yaounde. The irate neighbour left the father of Bebe Mathis in the bar, rushed back to his house, got a machete, stormed into the house of the father of Bebe Mathis , and ‘slaughtered’ or murdered the innocent child who was playing in the parlour. Horrible!
CPDM Senator Decries Rising Cases Of Femicides And Infanticides
Meanwhile, a prominent senator of the ruling CPDM Party, Francoise Puene aka Mammy Nyanga, President of “Fondation Puene Francoise Pour La Liberte”, that among other things fight against gender based violence, was guest on Radio France Internationale (FRI), in the programme, ‘Afrique Midi”, late last month, precisely on August 26, 2026, to talk on the rising cases of femicide and infanticide in Cameroon. This followed the scary situation where a total of eight women were killed in Cameroon from August 17 – 23, 2026.
Lady Francoise Puene like many people in Cameroon decried the alarming and frightening rise in the cases of femicide and infanticide in Cameroon. She aptly described as horrifying, the fact that a total of eight cases of femicides were recorded in Cameroon from August 17 – 23, 2026. That is, 8 women killed in 7 days in the country. She as well cited the aforementioned case of Bebe Mathis in Yaounde, when talking about the shocking rise in cases of infanticides in the country.
Impunity
As to what she thought was responsible for the degenerating situation as regard rising cases of femicides and infanticides in Cameroon, Senator Francoise Puene like many other Cameroonians, cited IMPUNITY, as one of the reasons for the situation. She however would not expatiate on that. She however said authorities need to do more in the fight to stop femicide and infanticide in the country. Reminded that she is of the ruling CPDM Party, Senator Francoise Puene argued that the CPDM is not insensitive to the degenerating situation in the country, as regard the rise in femicide and infanticide.
Slow Judicial Process
Senator Francoise Puene also partly blamed the degenerating situation on the slowness of the courts or the judicial process. Again citing the case of Bebe Mathis, she pointed out that after the heinous act that shook the country, happened, and the culprit or alleged murderer was reportedly apprehended, the public did not hear anything again for about four or five months, leading to all sorts of rumours. This led many people to think that the alleged murder had been set free, whereas that was not the case. The matter only opened in court some months later, when other new cases of infanticides and femicides had occurred, and thus turn the eyes of the public elsewhere.
Just as many Cameroonians are saying, Senator Puene rightly pointed that slowness of the courts or the judicial process, is also one of the things that make Cameroonians to lose track of what happen to suspects in cases of infanticides or femicides, leaving many people to assume that the suspects arrested when those incidents occur, are probably liberated secretly, and thus are not punished by the Law. That is why many people think there is impunity, whereas it might in reality not be the case.
Many Parents Also Culpable – No Time To Discuss With Children
Senator Francoise Puene also found parents culpable for the degenerating situation as regard the rise in child abuse in the society or country. Some of the abuses lead to the dead of the victims. The senator said several parents, especially in our towns, these days, do neglect their responsibility of closely following up their young children, because of money. They are preoccupied with chasing or hunting for money to put food on the table.
Senator Francoise Puene noted that there are several women with young children, who spend the whole day outside the home, precisely at work or following their business activities, and only return home at night, tired, and have no time to talk with their children. The children are abandoned to themselves or to nannies. She said some of the children might be suffering from abuses or being subjected to temptations, but keeps silent out of fear or ignorance. Since their mothers or parents do not have time to talk with them, those children suffer in silence, and one day, the worse might happen.
Some Families Cover Up Child Abuse Cases
The CPDM Senator, Francoise Puene, also raised the issue of cover ups of cases of child abuse and violence against women in several families. Talking about child abuse, she explained that there are cases of parents that instead of denouncing or reporting child abuse cases in their families rather cover then up. That is, an abuse committed by a members of the family, is covered up. She cited as example, a case she said happened in the Southwest Region of Cameroon, though she was not precise as to where exactly it happened. According to the senator, a man raped his grand child who was staying with them, during the long holiday period that just recently ended. She said the family instead covered up the misdeed for, fear that it would tarnish the image of the family, if the news went public.
Senator Puene disclosed that after a few weeks of the first diabolical act, the same grandfather did the worse, by raping the younger sister of the child he earlier raped. The second case was a five year old child (girl). The anger became unbridled, as the family burst out in fury against the horrible act. It was a situation that would probably have been avoided, if the first incident was exposed or reported.
March Against Femicide
Meanwhile, a protest march against Femicide that was launched by some female activists in the country, are being organized in some towns and villages across the country, on Fridays. Bamenda in the Northwest Region, was one of the first towns where the protest march against Femicide was organized in the country a few weeks ago, and last week Nkambe followed, as regard the Northwest Region. Women turn out in red for the protest march known as “VENDREDI ROUGE “or “RED FRIDAY”, to say “NO TO FEMICIDE”.
But the question that some people are asking, is what about the children‘s own case, or better still, what about infanticide? In Other words, who will launch a protest march to protest against infanticide, since children cannot do that by themselves?
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