Denis, CASA Member, a nurse

I was a nurse in Cameroon. I took an oath to save lives. As a nurse, I provided treatment for all the people in Southern Cameroon- Anglophone and Francophone. On November of 2016 – together with other nurses and medical workers – I was arrested and taken to the police station where I was tortured and beaten to within an inch of losing our lives. I was in custody for a week after all sorts of inhumane treatment including physical assault resulting in injuries to my stomach and legs. The guards refused to allow my family to visit me. Thanks to the intervention of my family lawyer, I was released after bribing the commissioner with the sum of 300,000 CFA (approx $350 US dollars).

I continued advocating for the rights of all English-speaking Cameroonians and as a result, my family house was burned down by the military; the final in a series of attacks in which the military conducted illegal searches for anti-government documents. 

On September of 2017, I took part in a peaceful march. I was arrested alongside many others and detained. The cell in which I was detained was very small and overcrowded, housing about 37 persons, both men, and women, with no toilet and window.  We were forced to use a bucket as a toilet. I was released 4 days later.

When the crisis became violent in 2018, the government issued an order to healthcare professionals not to treat separatist fighters who come to the hospital with injuries. Being a nurse I worked in the surgical ward, which was monitored by government agents and spies. My colleagues and I were bound by our professional ethics and oath to save lives and so we did not give in to the government order.  But meanwhile, the government was planning my abduction for violating the order not to treat separatists.

A friend alerted me that a warrant had been issued for my arrest. And so I escaped. I walked through the bushes to get to the neighboring town where I took an overnight bus to my elder sister who was also hosting my wife and daughter at the time. The military was informed of my escape and they went to my village in search of me. When my uncle could not provide the soldiers with my whereabouts they burned down his house and gunned down my cousin Ngecha Gildas. Yes,  I will say his name because his life will not go in vain. I am fighting for us, my dear cousin.

I escaped my country and took the long and grueling journey to the US. President Biden, I am pouring my heart out to you. What I suffered still haunts me to this very day! Cameroonians that are deported end up missing! Please don’t allow us to get deported to our deaths. Please protect black immigrants and grant us Temporary Protective Status for all Cameroonians!