Colonel Joel Emile Bamkoui
By Mankah Rosa Parks, Senior Investigative Correspondent with investigative reports.
For nearly a decade, Brigadier General Emile Joël Bamkoui ruled Cameroon’s Military Security Division (SEMIL) with iron fists, secret prisons, and untraceable budgets. Under his command, SEMIL became the most feared organ of repression, with allegations of torture, assassinations, and mass manipulation of the war in Southern Cameroons.
Bamkoui wasn’t just a military officer. He was Paul Biya’s butcher—the man behind the silent war against Ambazonians. But behind every butcher is a circle of collaborators. Some pulled strings. Some looked the other way. Some smiled in public while villages burned behind them.
This article names them all.
Bamkoui’s Rise and Reign of Terror
From the moment he took control of SEMIL in 2016, Bamkoui ran a parallel state within Cameroon. He had:
Unlimited access to black budgets,
Direct reporting lines to the presidency, and
Zero accountability to parliament or courts.
His methods were brutal. Detainees disappeared without trace. Torture became routine. Civilians were caught between fake separatist attacks and deadly military reprisals. Bamkoui’s blueprint was simple: create chaos, blame Ambazonians, crush resistance.
In April 2025, after mounting international pressure and internal power struggles, Bamkoui was quietly retired. But that was not justice—it was a cover-up.
The Circle That Enabled Him
Paul Atanga Nji – The Minister of Denial
As Minister of Territorial Administration, Atanga Nji became the public face of denial. He claimed there was “no Anglophone problem” and used his office to suppress humanitarian efforts and discredit human rights reports.
While Bamkoui handled repression, Atanga Nji handled the propaganda.
Victor Mengot – The Silent Diplomat
A longtime minister at the presidency, Mengot made no serious effort to stop the devastation in his native Manyu. Instead, he remained loyal to Biya’s image, ignoring the burning of villages and the suffering of his own people.
Chief Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute – The Pretend Prime Minister
Ngute’s appointment as one of Cameroon’s Prime Ministers of Ambazonian origin in 2019, was hailed as symbolic. But his silence during the worst atrocities in Ambazonia made him a figurehead for fiction, not reform. He never condemned SEMIL’s actions.
Paul Tasong – The Reconstruction Profiteer
Tasked with rebuilding the war-torn Northwest and Southwest, Tasong oversaw a program riddled with corruption. Billions went unaccounted for. Reconstruction projects doubled as intelligence gathering operations. SEMIL never left—only changed uniform.
Dr Diane Acha-Morfaw – The Fixer in High Heels
A former academic and now a well-connected regime insider, Diane Acha-Morfaw used her romantic relationships with senior officials to gain influence. Known for securing deals, silencing critics, and managing regime optics abroad, she played a key role in whitewashing Bamkoui’s crimes in foreign academic and diplomatic circles.
The Women Who Watched and Worked Alongside
Uphie Chinje Melo
Once a respected academic and university official, Melo consistently defended Biya’s government and dismissed the Anglophone crisis as mere youth mischief.
Margaret Kilo
As Cameroon’s representative at the African Development Bank, Kilo never once used her position to speak up for the massacred or displaced. Instead, she helped Cameroon dodge scrutiny abroad.
Minister Rose Mbah Acha
As Minister Delegate for Justice, she signed off on political prosecutions and did nothing to investigate claims of torture. Victims had no legal hope under her watch.
Professor Dorothy Njeuma
A prominent educationist, Prof. Njeuma helped erase Southern Cameroons’ history from school curricula. She turned a blind eye to the marginalization of Anglophone institutions while praising unity.
The ADF Connection: Manufactured Chaos
Evidence from voice recordings and intelligence leaks suggest that General Bamkoui maintained secret control over rogue elements within the Ambazonian Defence Forces (ADF). By scripting violence, he allowed the government to point fingers at separatists and justify military crackdowns.
This strategy of infiltration sowed confusion, weakened legitimate resistance, and prolonged the war.
What Now?
Justice Cannot Be Retired
Bamkoui may be gone from office, but the wounds of his reign remain open. His enablers are still in power, still silent, and still profiting. For true justice, the following steps must be taken:
Sanctions on all key figures in the Bamkoui network,
Independent international investigations into SEMIL,
Criminal prosecutions under universal jurisdiction,
Reparations and medical care for victims and survivors.
*Let Their Names Be Known*.
General Emile Bamkoui may have pulled the trigger, but others loaded the gun, blindfolded the victims, and wrote the press releases.
They include:
Paul Atanga Nji, Victor Mengot, Joseph Dion Ngute, Paul Tasong, Diane Acha-Morfaw, Uphie Chinje Melo, Margaret Kilo, Rose Mbah Acha, and Professor Dorothy Njeuma.
Ambazonia’s suffering is not an accident. It is a system. These are its keepers.
Mankah Rosa Parks,
