Cameroonian journalist jailed in child kidnapping trial

Dakar, January 30, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Cameroonian authorities to immediately release journalist Brand Kamga, who was arrested on January 19 and charged with attempting to abduct the child of a woman he was investigating.

Kamga, editor of the online channel Naja TV, phoned and met with the plaintiff, Annette Josiane Wandji Njikeu, after he received a tip-off that she became romantically involved with a man to help her obtain French identity documents for her daughter.

Njikeu filed a complaint to the gendarmerie in May against the journalist for attempting to kidnap her daughter from school, leading to his January 19 summons and detention in the city’s Kondengui Central Prison.

Njikeu did not appear at the opening of the trial in the capital Yaoundé on January 20 and the prosecutor asked for a postponement to allow him time to present the facts, the journalist’s lawyer, Guy Léonard Gueyo Kamga, and a second person following the case, who declined to be named, citing fear of reprisals, told CPJ.

The case was adjourned until February 3, against the wishes of the defense, when the judge is due to rule on Kamga’s request for provisional release.

“Detaining a journalist without first gathering sufficient evidence to hear the case against him in relation to his work-related fact-checking is a violation of due process that erodes independent reporting,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative. “Cameroonian authorities must drop the absurd charges against Brand Kamga and free him.”

In court, Njikeu was represented by a woman who said she was appearing because the plaintiff had fled the country, the lawyer and the anonymous person told CPJ. The judge asked the woman to return with proof that she had power of attorney to represent Njikeu, they added.

She ‘wanted to silence him’

Njikeu is a bodybuilder who first came to Kamga’s attention when Naja TV published a video profile of her in 2024.

In early 2025, Kamga was contacted by a French citizen, Denis Gréard, who told the journalist that he wanted to share his story: he alleged that Njikeu had scammed him.

Gréard told CPJ that he met Njikeu online and they struck up a long-distance romance, but she cut off all communication after he helped her get a new birth certificate for her daughter.

“I had entrusted him (Kamga) with all the evidence against Annette Josiane Wandji Njikeu who wanted to silence him by having him imprisoned,” Gréard said. 

In February, Naja TV drew up a draft contract — which has been shared online and Gréard confirmed to CPJ was genuine — which said Gréard would pay Kamga 800 euros (US$ 952) to produce a “balanced report” allowing both Gréard and Njikeu to explain their version of events. Gréard told CPJ he did not sign the contract.

Kamga phoned and met Njikeu to follow up but did not publish anything, the anonymous person said. The gendarmerie’s pre-trial investigation was flawed, they added, as a school staffer said they had seen the journalist on the premises and there were surveillance cameras on-site, but the gendarmerie did not acquire the footage.

CPJ’s calls to request comment from Njikeu and the justice ministry were not answered.