In Cameroon, the traditional chief of Baloum and eight other individuals implicated in the double murder of two young men in the West region have been formally charged and placed in detention at Dschang central prison.
New developments have emerged in the case of two young men burned alive in Baloum. On Thursday, 25 June, Chief Baloum and eight other suspects in this matter were indicted and remanded to Dschang central prison. According to the legal representative of Steve Diffo’s family, the chief and his co-defendants face charges including murder, torture, complicity in murder and torture, and failure to possess a national identity card. “No human being, even one condemned to death by the ordinary justice system, should ever endure such a fate,” the lawyer stated.
At the heart of the case are Bostel Kemta and his friend Steve Achille Diffo Sijamo. The two men in their thirties were abducted, tortured, and burned alive on 5 June in Baloum, a locality in Cameroon’s West region, by a group of locals while the village chief, Charles Constant Pokam Noussi, watched. Accused of playing a role in the tragedy, Chief Pokam Noussi surrendered to authorities on Wednesday, 17 June 2026.
Two separate complaints were lodged by the victims’ families. The first was filed with the Penka-Miche gendarmerie brigade, which is the administrative centre of the district that includes Baloum village, where the incident took place. The second complaint was submitted to the state prosecutor, who expressed surprise at having not been informed of such serious events.
