Cameroon’s defence ministry said yesterday it would prosecute seven soldiers suspected of summarily killing two women and their two children, a video of which was distributed on the internet to widespread outrage.
“Seven soldiers arrested on suspicion of extrajudicial executions in the Far North region will be brought before a military court in Yaounde… where they will be tried in line with the law,” communications official Cyrille Serge Atonfack Guemo told AFP.
The charges are for joint participation in murder, breach of regulations and conspiracy to commit these crimes, he said. The date of the trial has yet to be set. “Cameroon does not compromise over behaviour that is incompatible with law relating to war, human law and the protection of people and their belongings,” he said
The killings occurred last July in a region plagued by cross-border raids by Boko Haram fighters.
The assailants in the video accuse the four of being members of the jihadist group. The Cameroonian government initially branded the video “fake news” and a “horrible montage” but said it would investigate.