A blatant assault on press freedom has unfolded in Yaounde, where plainclothes police physically assaulted and detained a freelance journalist reporting for the Associated Press on the controversial deportation of Africans—including a Kenyan—from the United States.

The chilling reality of authoritarian media suppression was violently demonstrated this week in Cameroon. Randy Joe Sa'ah, an experienced freelance journalist on assignment for the Associated Press (AP), was slapped, stripped of his equipment, and detained alongside three other reporters and a lawyer. Their supposed crime? Attempting to document the arrival of African migrants forcibly expelled by the Trump administration.

This incident is not merely a localized abuse of power; it is a dark intersection of aggressive US immigration policies and the draconian anti-press tactics favored by Central African regimes. For East Africans, the story strikes a particularly painful chord, as the deported group included a Kenyan national, highlighting the vulnerability of diaspora communities caught in geopolitical crossfires.

The Anatomy of the Arrest

The journalists were executing a fundamental journalistic duty: bearing witness. They had approached a facility hosting the latest wave of deportees to conduct interviews. Without warning, plainclothes officers escalated the situation into violence, confiscating cameras and recording equipment that, as of publication, remain unreturned.

Sa'ah described the ordeal as "extremely stressful," noting the sheer absurdity of the escalation. "It felt as though our only 'offence' was simply being present at the facility where people were being held," he recounted. The deafening silence from Cameroon's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the police regarding the assault only amplifies the culture of impunity that shields state security forces.

The Deportation Pipeline

The background to this press freedom violation is the controversial acceleration of US deportations under the current administration. The facility in Yaounde has become a dumping ground for individuals expelled from American soil. The latest arrivals reveal the diverse geographical spread of this policy:

• A second group of deportees arriving Monday included a Kenyan, a Senegalese, a Sierra Leonean, three Ethiopians, and two individuals from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• An initial cohort in January featured migrants from Ghana, Morocco, Angola, and Zimbabwe.
• The psychological trauma of sudden deportation is being compounded by the hostile, militarized reception upon their return to the African continent.
• The lack of transparency regarding the processing and ultimate fate of these multi-national deportees is deeply alarming to human rights organizations.

A Warning to the Global Press

The detention of reporters attempting to cover US deportations suggests a coordinated effort to keep the brutal realities of these policies hidden from the global public. When journalists are physically struck for holding a camera, the very foundation of accountability crumbles.

The international community must not allow the confiscation of equipment to successfully censor this narrative. The fate of the deportees, including the Kenyan citizen thrust into this terrifying ordeal, demands relentless journalistic scrutiny, regardless of the intimidation tactics deployed by the state.

A society that beats its truth-tellers operates in the darkest of shadows.