BY SANDRA LUM
Ten years after the Anglophone crisis erupted in 2016, civilians in Cameroon’s North-West and South-West regions increasingly find themselves caught between separatist fighters and government forces – a situation many describe as being “between the devil and the deep blue sea.”
In Kumba, the experience of 33-year-old business operator Marie Mukwelle Kongue highlights the risks faced by civilians caught in the crossfire.
Kongue, who operated a hairdressing salon and a mobile money transfer point in Kumba before fleeing the country, alleges that she suffered detention, mistreatment and threats from both sides.
Narrating her ordeal to THE SUN, Kongue alleged that on September 20, 2025, at about 4:15 p.m., a mixed contingent of security forces comprising personnel of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), Police, Gendarmerie and the military raided her business premises while she was attending to customers.
She recounted that she was bundled into a truck, blindfolded and taken to a detention facility in Kumba.
“I was beaten, mistreated and accused of receiving money from abroad on behalf of separatist fighters to finance their operations. My phone was searched, but nothing linking me to separatists was found,” she alleged, breaking down in tears.
Kongue also revealed that she was sexually assaulted while in detention.
According to her account, she was denied access to family members and was released without charge five days later, on September 25, 2025.
She said that, following her release, her physical condition deteriorated and she was taken to hospital for medical treatment.
After her discharge, Kongue said she began receiving death threats from separatist fighters, who accused her of providing government forces with information about their movements. She alleged that armed men subsequently went to her residence looking for her.
Kongue, who had applied for a Canadian visa before her arrest, said the visa was subsequently approved, allowing her to travel to Canada.
By press time, THE SUN had gathered from family sources that security patrols had reportedly been observed around her former neighbourhood in Kumba. A purported military wanted list circulating in the town, bearing her name and those of other individuals allegedly linked to separatist activities, could not, however, be independently verified.
Contacted for comment, a senior security official in Meme Division said security operations in the area were intelligence-led and aimed at neutralising armed groups and restoring order.
“We act within the law to protect civilians. Anyone with information should collaborate with the authorities,” the official said, while referring to ongoing Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) and humanitarian programmes.
Under Cameroon’s Penal Code, offences relating to insurrection and secession attract severe penalties, which may include life imprisonment upon conviction.
Rights organisations have repeatedly warned of the devastating humanitarian consequences of the conflict in the North-West and South-West Regions. Amnesty International and the International Crisis Group (ICG) have estimated that about 4,000 people have been killed, while more than 500,000 have been internally displaced and approximately 40,000 have sought refuge in neighbouring countries. An estimated 700,000 children have also been deprived of regular access to education.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that approximately 1.3 million people in the North-West and South-West Regions require urgent humanitarian assistance.
For civilians such as Kongue, the crisis continues to present a painful dilemma: navigating between the demands and threats of armed separatists on one side and security forces on the other, with ordinary citizens often left bearing the consequences.