Suspended fifth year Cameroonian pharmacy student in USA protests

A Cameroonian, John Mbawe, who has already done five of the six years required to qualify as a doctor of pharmacy in the College of Pharmacy, Ferris State University, Michigan, United States of America, has reportedly been suspended from further study allegedly for medical reasons, but the student who says he is healthy and was doing well in school, holds that his suspension was racially motivated.

Mbawe, who is said to be a permanent resident in the US and has reportedly spent about 170,000 US dollars (FCFA 85 million), which is the US Government-backed student loan, undergoing the training, told The Recorder: “I was maliciously withdrawn from the program for no just cause. I strongly believe the actions by the school and the city were racially motivated.”

All attempts by The Recorder to get the college officials react to Mbawe’s allegations were futile. The Recorder sent t three emails to Dr. Stephen Durst, Dean of the College of Pharmacy, Ferris State University, to David L. Eisler, President of the University and Chairman of Board of trustees, as well as to Tara Lee, Administrative Specialist, Dean's Office -since on the 15th and 20th of December 2014-for them to confirm or refute the allegations, but up to when we were going to print this edition, none of them had even acknowledged receipt of the email.

Following is The Recorder’s email to the college officials: “INQUIRY ON ALLEGEDLY DISMISSED 5th YEAR CAMEROONIAN PHARMACY STUDENT “We are a newspaper, called The RECORDER in Cameroon (Central Africa) with head office in the town of Buea.

Sir, we write to find out from your office about an allegation from one Cameroonian 5th year pharmacy student by name John Mbawe, whose student identify card is attached herewith, that he was unjustifiably dismissed from your prestigious College of Pharmacy, Ferris State University, USA.

We would be grateful if you can confirm or refute the allegation because we plan to do a story based on the complaint he has sent to our newsroom We look forward to receiving your reply ASAP

Yours Truly"

However, The Recorder learned from other sources that the Cameroonian student was suspended by the College supposedly for health reason, so that Mbawe who was reportedly sick could fully recover and stabilize his life to continue his study sometime later.

Mbawe has dismissed the claim that he was sick...Mbawe, who said he was one of two black students in a white-dominated class of 150 students, alleges that before his suspension he had complained to the school administration about his molestation by some students and professors.

“During my first two years of the program, I was bullied and provoked [because] of my nationality, my race ...by both students and some professors”, he wrote in an email to us.

The Cameroonian student says because of his complaint against some white professors to the school administration, he was later framed-up in what he described as a false report by some white professors to the police, which led to his arrest and detention for two weeks.

“I sat in an ongoing class one day and two police officers came to school and arrested me,” he alleged, adding “The police officers pulled me out, carried me in their car and locked me up, imprisoned me in a house for sixteen (16) days. While in the house, I was electrocuted and drugged. I reminded them in several occasions that I was a student and I was missing my classes”.

Mbawe claimed he contacted the Cameroon Embassy in Washington, which said they would only react if they received a formal complaint, which he did not submit because of some difficulty he faced.

Upon his release from detention, he told us, “I went back to school to finish the semester. However, I was told that I had been withdrawn from my program for having been absent from school for long”

Mbawe alleges that even the Office of the Attorney-General in Detroit, which he contacted, did not help him out of his predicament. “I even left the city and drove to Detroit to the Attorney General office, but I was threatened with arrest if I did not leave.

“I was asked, forced to leave the city after it was realized I would not back down in my search for justice. Because I would not leave, I was attacked and my head severely injured in a manner that almost got me impaired. When I went to the police office with the bleeding and swollen skull to make a report, I was arrested again detained and charged with trespassing at the police station”, he alleged.

“I had parked my car in front of the police station when I went to make the report. Nonetheless when I came back to take my car the next day after I was released from the illegal detention, my car had been confiscated, seized, and impounded. I know for sure this an attempt to prevent me from leaving the city to make reports. The car was illegally confined for 58 days, and all documents and proves of what has been happening to me taken away.”

He said he decided to narrate his ordeal to The Recorder because all attempts to get his plight reported by some US media houses failed. He said he “contacted The Dr. Phil Show, Anderson Cooper 360, The Ed Show by mail, but his mails disappeared along the way’

Threatening to sue the College of Pharmacy, Mbawe has launched an appeal for human rights organizations to come to his assistance in his search for justice. “I am pleading with anyone out there who believes in justice and human rights to stand up for me. My life is in serious risk,” he voiced out.

The Cameroonian student, who has been out of school now for more than a year, and has reportedly contacted various US offices, hoping that his situation would be addressed, is yet to get a positive feedback..It is not clear whether the matter is under consideration or has been shelved.

But Mbawe believes that he will eventually get justice in the USA, which is one of the strongest advocates of the rule of law and respect for Human Rights.