The mutilated body of a prominent Cameroonian journalist has been found near the capital, Yaoundé, five days after he was abducted by unidentified assailants.

Martinez Zogo, director of private radio station Amplitude FM, was kidnapped on January 17 as he tried to enter a police station to escape his attackers, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

“His body was found in [a place called] Ebogo 3 in the early hours of Sunday after he was tortured,” reported Amplitude FM.

Zogo, presenter of the well-known daily program Embouteillage (Gridlock), had recently been talking on-air about a case of alleged embezzlement involving a media outlet with government connections, RSF said.

On the air, the 51-year-old regularly tackled cases of corruption, not hesitating to question important personalities by name.

According to RSF, police in a Yaoundé suburb heard a loud noise outside their police station and found Zogo’s badly damaged car at approximately 8pm (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

“Police saw a black vehicle … driving off. They later came to realize this was an abduction,” the organization said.

Zogo’s colleague, Charlie Amie Tchouemou, editor-in-chief of Amplitude FM, confirmed Zogo’s abduction and subsequent death. The police and the government have not commented yet.

‘Victim of hatred and barbarism’

Media advocates described his disappearance and death as a further sign of the perils of reporting in the African country.

“Cameroonian media has just lost one of its members, a victim of hatred and barbarism,” the Cameroon Journalists’ Trade Union said in a statement.