Three students risk ten-year jail term for circulating text message

Three college students in Cameroon risk a jail term of ten years for jokingly sharing messages that are deemed to be promoting terrorism.

The three are said to have used their phones to send a message with Boko Haram requirements for recruiting youth and their teacher on accessing the message reported the matter to local authorities.

The students have sought defense arguing that the message was only a joke and that it had not been obtained from the militia group.

The message in the case is reported to have contained information that the terror group recruits and engages youth of 14 years and above with religious studies being a fundamental requirement.

A mother of one of the students identified as Eric while in discussion with her neighbours said his son had been innocently detained and had developed eyesight complications yet they were only on chitchat using the message.

She insists it will be unfair for the students to be charged with failure to denounce terrorism as the country’s state organs intensify the fight against radicalism and terror ahead of the 2018 presidential elections.

Nigeria, Chad and Northern parts of Cameroon have experienced major security threats from the Islamist terror group, Boko Haram.