There is an imposing building not so far from Shell Nsimeyong in Yaoundé. According to the building permit, this building abandoned for decades now belongs to an ex-prisoner named Thierry Michel Atangana.

This man was arrested in May 1997 and condemned to 15 years imprisonment for embezzlement. In 2012, he was also sentenced for an additional 20 years. He was however released following a presidential pardon in 2014 after he spent 17 years behind bars.

Following his detention, his fortune and real estate properties were seized.  The Shell Nsimeyong building is one of those properties.

The reason why many people think that this property belongs to Titus Edzoa is that before they were both arrested,  Thierry Michel Atangana and the former secretary general of Cameroon’s presidenct were very close. Indeed, in 1994, Michel Thierry Atangana was appointed as the head of the steering committee of the Yaoundé-Kribi and Ayos-Bertoua roads (COPISUR) by Paul Biya. In the framework of that project, his main interlocutor that was representing the government was Titus Edzoa.

Let’s note that their destiny has been quite the same as they were both arrested in 1997 (Titus was arrested in October 1997, 5 months after Atangana) and, they were also released after 17 years in jail following a presidential pardon.

Monique Ngo Mayag