Stony Brook University Professor Detained In Cameroon

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A Stony Brook University professor has been detained in Cameroon.

As WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported, professor Patrice Nganang was arrested while visiting family in the country where he was born. He is now a U.S. citizen.

His arrest came after the 47-year-old husband and father published an essay on the president of Cameroon's response to demonstrations by the English-speaking population.

Nganang has been a professor at Stony Brook University's cultural studies and comparative literature department for 10 years.

His colleague Robert Harvey said he is very concerned.

"One has to be worried, because the means that are used sometimes to repress the free speech of people like Patrice. Human rights are not always respected," he told Hall.

Lawmakers are working with Nganang's family and the university to help return him to the United States.