Anicet Ekane’s sister says family won’t collect his corpse.

She made the declaration yesterday in Douala. Gertrude was reacting shortly after news of Ekane’s death, on Monday December 1, 2025, under unclear circumstances threw the nation into shock.

Gertrude accused the government and security forces in particular of having killed her brother.  “They killed my brother,” she wailed at the MANIDEM headquarter in Akwa, Douala Monday.

The sister of the deceased politician added that: “He was the head of a large family. They arrested and killed him just as they had promised”. 

A host of other acquaintances and relatives who stormed the MANIDEM headquarters chased away security officers who had long been deployed to the area.

“Cross the road! What are you people still doing here?,” a relative shouted at uniformed officers, adding: “You are the same ones who arrested him. He’s gone now, leave us alone.”

According to his counsels, Barrister Hippolyte Meli and Emmanuel Simh, gendarmes had confiscated his oxygen extractor and accessories for more than a month, despite his failing health.

The lawyers said the health devices were only returned on November 27, barely four days before his death.

“Five unidentified gendarmes forced him to receive the equipment on his hospital bed after keeping it for one month,” Meli had said last Friday. 

Barrister Meli had also added that: “These devices were never subjected to a contradictory technical check,” stating that: “A complaint will be filed against the Commander of the Littoral Gendarmerie Legion and all those involved in this criminal act”.

Family members and some MANIDEM party officials say they believe the prolonged confiscation of his oxygen device and the conditions of detention critically worsened his health.

Ekane was one of Cameroon’s most outspoken political figures and a key member of the Union for Change coalition that backed Issa Tchiroma’s candidacy in the October 12 presidential election.

The Ministry of Defense and the Minister of Communication, through separate statements Monday, indicated that investigations will be carried out to shed light on his death.

It should be recalled that Ekane, 74, was arrested on October 24, 2025, in Douala after publicly declaring that Issa Tchiroma Bakary won the October 12 presidential election.

The veteran politician, whom his lawyers said, had respiratory complications, was reportedly detained under harsh conditions at the State Secretariat for Defence, SED. His lawyers had repeatedly warned that he was being denied adequate medical care.

Meanwhile, contrary to the above claims, sources at SED have stated that Ekane was never put behind bars. 

“Ekane was given proper medical attention and several tests ran on his health by our expert medics in the presence of his doctors and lawyers. It is unfortunate that he died,” a source at SED who requested anonymity told The Guardian Post.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3644 of Wednesday December 03, 2025