A LAUNCHED ONLINE CAMPAIGN AGAINST BOPDA AFFAIR-#STOPBOPDA

This month of January has had several horrible cases but the present trending  case of horror is about a man whose name has been revealed as Hervé Bopda. Apparently, he is a big business man in Douala but the news about him is the fact that he has raped over 200 young ladies especially. This information was exposed earlier by a renowned Cameroonian social media influencer called Nzui Manto, by January 19th 2024. The case has been nicknamed the Hervé Bopda Affair. The social media influencer published on social networks dozens of testimonies on alleged acts of rape , pimping and kidnapping involving Hervé Bopda, Cameroonian businessman and jet setter, in several towns like Douala, Yaoundé , Kribi, Limbe, and Buea.

A week ago on January 21st , Nzui Manto launched  a live on Facebook lasting more than 4 hours, more than 50,000 Internet users were connected, and listened to the damning testimonies of Hervé Bopda. The accused is presented as the perpetrator of rapes of hundreds of women, some of whom were kidnapped at gunpoint or with the assistance of his bodyguards and personnel from the Cameroonian presidential guard. Videos are broadcast showing him in the company of men in uniform performing the military salute

With this rampant case of Bopda, several celebrities, including Afrobeat Nigerian singer Ayra Starr, are carrying on an online campaign calling for the prosecution of alleged Cameroonian sexual predator Hervé Bopda.

Through an online campaign tagged #StopBopda, many are calling on Cameroonian authorities to investigate alleged acts of rape, kidnap, and sexual assault against women and young girls by the Cameroonian businessman.

As the revelations were first exposed earlier on by Cameroonian social media influencer Nzui Manto, his deep revelations have kept social media very very active  for the past few days, and several celebrities are now adding their voices to his to demand justice for the alleged victims. Taking to her X, formerly known as  Twitter, Nigerian Afrobeats sensation Ayra Starr showed solidarity by dropping the hashtag.

“#Stopbopda. The criminal shouldn’t be walking free,” the young artist wrote.

Also, popular French TV host Claudy Siar has taken to social media with the hashtag “It is time for Bopda to pay because even the politicians he relies on are not more than public opinion”.

In Cameroon, celebrities like Cysoul, Julia Samantha Edima, Nabila, Blanche Bailley, Magasco, Lysol and many more  have joined the hashtag campaign demanding that justice be done. Other renowned people with high social media activities, like Congolese personal development  coach Lady Sonia, and others, have joined the campaign against the accused.

Nzui Manto, who first provided insights into the alleged acts, claims Bopda operates in a network of sexual predators which includes powerful people such as Mourzane, Xavier Abena and businessman Wilson Dacosta (who owns a big residential building in Buea,Southwest Cameroon).

He alleged that the rape network extends to Buea, in the South West Region of Cameroon, where renowned Wilson Dacosta, owner of the famous WDC Hotel in Buea, is being accused of using the “picking money concept” to rally girls aged 15-17 years to his hotel where they are raped.

The social media influencer apparently  claims Hervé Bopda and his accomplices have been accused by over 200 victims, both female and male, of rape, sodomy, kidnapping and more.

Reports say the victims, mostly underage girls between the ages of 15 and 17 years, are contacted by influencers and proposed to these rich men under the guise of beauty pageants or some other excuse.

Hervé Bopda gets hold of some of his victims and forcefully commits horrible sexual acts with them.

Reports also say the alleged sexual predator sources some of his victims from the streets of Douala, especially from Bonanjo, Bonapriso, Bonamoussadi and Bali.

Sources explain how he does and it’s deceived that; on the streets, he allegedly requests for the girl’s number and when they resist, he threatens them with a gun or kidnaps them to his place with the help of his bodyguards, who at times join him in raping the victims. The revelations from victims are so terrifying that many are questioning who Hervé Bopda is and how he succeeded in going this far unnoticed.

One of the victims claimed that she was kidnapped by Bopda for five days, raped each day by him and his men, and later thrown out and threatened with death if she dared to tell anyone about what had happened.

Another alleged victim said she was pregnant when Bopda forcefully had sex with her. She said she lost her baby two weeks after being raped.

Several of Herve Bopda’s alleged victims, who have come out to anonymously recount their stories, claimed that they contracted HIV/AIDS after sexual activities with him.

The heartbreaking revelations have triggered increasing calls for investigations and justice to be done.

Since information began making the rounds on the Hervé Bopda issue, reports have been shown that Cameroonian authorities have not made any official statements, prompting more calls for government action.

The alleged sex predator, reports say, still walks free, although some sources saw gendarmerie officers parading one of his residences in Shell, New Bell, Douala.

The Cameroon Bar Association’s Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms is the only organization that has taken up the Herve Bopda affair as it is now known.

In a release that surfaced recently, the commission petitioned the public prosecutor at the Yaounde Court of First Instance, demanding that investigations be opened on the allegations against Herve Bopda.

This Bopda affair has traumatized lots of people and these several testimonies have given courage to others who claim to be victims as well to standup and let their voices be heard. Majority of these accusations will be investigated thoroughly especially as the Minister of Women Empowerment and Family, Marie-Thérèse Abena Ondoa , has published a press release where she has assured the victims that she will do all possible to fight for their rights .

This case has brought in fear in most mothers who have daughters and even sons out there on the security of their children now every parent needs to be very careful on how their kids parade town especially the involved towns of such activities. The citizens hope that everyone involved in this claimed network be arrested and serve a long term sentence for their actions.

Delia Nyadi