Ex-Cameroon minister arrested in Nigeria, extradited home
Cameroon’s former water and energy minister was arrested in Nigeria and flown home on Thursday amid a crackdown on high-level corruption.
Basile Atangana Kouna was removed from his ministerial position during President Paul Biya’s March 2 cabinet reshuffle and had already been ordered not to leave the country.
Vision 4, a private television channel considered allied to Biya, reported that the former minister arrived at the international airport in the capital Yaounde at 6:20 pm (1720 GMT) escorted by police officers.
Another channel, Canal 2 International, also reported his arrest in Nigeria and subsequent extradition back to Cameroon.
Cameroon’s government spokesman was not immediately reachable for comment. Neither were officials in neighboring Nigeria.
It was not clear what charges Atangana Kouna was facing, but there was speculation on Thursday that he was arrested as part of an anti-corruption drive known as Operation Sparrowhawk.
Three men – a former Ministry of Public Works official, the head of a state company, and the ex-rector of the University of Douala – were arrested as part of the operation earlier this week.
Cameroon’s oil wealth has spawned a sprawling political patronage system fueled by revenues from crude exports. Transparency International ranked it 153 out of 180 countries on its annual corruption perceptions index.
Biya has ruled virtually by decree since taking over from a retiring predecessor in 1982 and then winning an election with 99.98 percent of the vote a year later.
Cameroon’s oil-dependent economy has been crippled by low crude prices. And separatists are mounting a guerrilla campaign in the country’s two English-speaking provinces, demanding independence from the majority Francophone Central African nation.
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