Inhabitants of Baforkum, a settler community in Bambui, a village in Tubah subdivision of Mezam division in the the North West Region of Cameroon have since July 9 been fleeing their homes for fear of the unknown.
The reason, controversially a family head escaping with her children said, is because they found the corpse of their chief dumped near a stream in this locality.
But why flee? You may wonder, this family head explained that the obvious is that the military would invade their community, brutalize inhabitants and arrest some people for the demise of their own leader.
Close to 2 months ago, Chief Akum Acheh II, traditional leader of Baforkum was kidnapped by separatist fighters. Having kept him in captivity this long, life was taken away from him and his body humiliatingly dumped near a stream around IRAD Bambui when community members of the deceased rose to the scenario this July 9.
Cases like this are abound in the restive North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. Shockingly, when separatists commit an atrocity and leave a mark, it is the community members that get victimized by the state forces of law and order. The outcome is a rise in the number of Internally Displaced Persons, IDP and refugees in some cases.
The endless war
Ever since the first victim, Divisional Officer for Batibo, Marcel Namata was kidnapped on February 11, 2018, in Batibo, Momo Division of North West, this strategy has never seen a revert. This strategy has been working for the separatist fighters who demand ransoms and inturn procure weapons. At least hundreds of victims are in captivity of different armed groups across North West and South West, including six Divisional Delegates of Ndian who have been in captivity for a month now, and one reportedly killed. It is alleged that their masters in the Diaspora also feed fat from this scheme.
Today, the non-state armed groups have graduated from the manufacturing of « locally improvised explosives » to procuring sophisticated explosives which are wrecking havoc on the state forces.
On Thursday July 8, a military officer who was just four days old in the North West Region was killed along Mbengwi-Bamenda road following an attack on their armoured car by separatist fighters with the use of explosive. Two legal affairs staff were seriously injured in the attack.
The armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions is only getting dicey by the day. Government independent efforts to appease Ambazonia fighters keep deepening the wounds. There have been numerous calls for government to give room for a genuine, inclusive dialogue with the Anglophones but the Biya regime has remained adamant.
Wifah Jennyhans
