Popular socialite and Cameroonian businessman Hervé Bopda, wanted for questioning on several counts of sexual assult has been arrested.
Bopda was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday January 31, 2024, according to Cameroonian media.
According to a journalist Annie Payep: ‘Hervé Bopda was arrested on the night of 30-31 January 2024 just before 2am and is being held at the Bonanjo judicial police station.
This followed a national outrage by a popular activist over Bopda and his accomplices’ alleged crimes against nearly 200 victims.
Outraged by the revelation from dozens of Bopda’s victims, several social media users posted more sordid allegations of his sexual violations and physical abuse, using the hashtag #stopbopda.
By Monday, the hashtag #stopbopda trended as the number one topic among Cameroonian users on X, formerly Twitter.
Known for his trendy lifestyle, Bopda who is widely known within Cameroon as a businessman, denied all allegations. His lawyer said the accusations were “scandalous”.
Bopda’s lawyer, Mr Ojong Ashu acknowledged that the recent barrage of abuse allegations prompted his client’s arrest, but insisted that Bopda had been arrested for his own safety. Bopda is son of late construction mogul Emmanuel Bopda.
On January 19, Cameroonian activist and internet personality N’zui Manto began releasing what he said were “testimonies” from men and women who alleged they had been assaulted by Bopda and his circle of friends.
The allegations include physical assault, rape, kidnapping and sexual harassment.
Cameroon’s minister for women’s empowerment, Marie-Thérèse Abena Ondoa called the accusations “unspeakably serious” in a statement last Friday.
Ms Ondoa encouraged “all victims to break the silence in order to break the chain of violence and to provide the judicial authorities with the information they need to carry out proceedings aimed at establishing the facts and, where appropriate, convicting the perpetrators of these appalling crimes”.
Alongside the lawyers and Ms Ondoa, public figures from Cameroon and the wider African continent added their voices, urging Cameroonian authorities to take action.
Popular Nigerian Afrobeats musician Ayra Starr posted “#StopBopda!!!” on X last Thursday.