Mathurin Ovono Ebe, president of the Omar Bongo University section of the National Union of Teachers and Researchers (SNEC), claims to have been “kidnapped” and “beaten” at night by armed strangers when he returned home around 7 p.m.
as reported from Libreville, Yves-Laurent Goma
Professor Mathurin Ovono Ebe’s story cools my back. On June 28, the trade unionist has just participated in a picket line in front of the portal to Omar Bongo University. He returns home, at 19:00 and Mathurin Ovono Ebe is kidnapped when he gets off the bus: “I was kidnapped by men in a white minibus with tinted windows. We drove for about 40 minutes before changing vehicles and before putting on the hood and handcuffs. I was tortured, I was asked, “Delete yourself, we can even make you disappear. We know the places your children go to.”
Union solidarity
The union claims to have lodged a complaint with the Judicial Police (PJ). His colleagues at Conasysed (National Convention of Unions in the Education System), the teachers’ union, call on the government to launch a serious investigation.
Jean RémyYama, president of Unitary Dynamics, the main union for civil servants, condemns a serious attack on freedom of association: “We condemn these barbaric acts, in a bygone era, which are only aimed at restricting trade union action.”
To check the information, RFI has contacted the government on several occasions, which has not yet responded to our requests.
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