By DANIELA NEBA NGUM
The Kumba-Buea highway has finally been made accessible thanks to the intervention of the military, five days after armed separatist fighters mounted barricades and obstructed the movement of persons and goods.
The highway was made open on Wednesday June 20, after numerous gun battles between the military and the separatist fighters.
Some passengers who opted for anonymity revealed that they spent close to four hours from Ekona to Kumba trying to assist the military to open the blocked areas. They added that it took them over two hours to un-mount the blockages in Mbalangi, Mbonge Sub-Division.
The queue of over one hundred vehicles preceded the military as they made their way into Kumba.
Trucks belonging to companies were reported to have been set ablaze by separatist gunmen and used thereafter to block the road.
There are also reported cases of unidentified lifeless bodies still lying on the sides of the highway.
Talking to some drivers, they lamented on the dangers they have been exposed to as a result of the continuous deteriorating Anglophone crisis. They revealed that they have been working hitch free since the road became operational though with some obstruction of close to an hour as a result of exchange of gunshots.
Some however, complained on the increased number of control posts on the road. This they noted goes a long way to slow their movements.
It should be recalled that, during the afternoon hours of Friday June 15, the said separatist fighters mounted barricades at various points of the road including Mbalangi, Bombe, Banga, Malende in Fako Division.
Vehicles which had to make use of the road were forced to turn back when they came in contact with the first barricade. Others who tried to negotiate their way in were still unable to sail through the numerous barricades.
Some passengers from Buea who were caught up in the middle of scene disclosed that they were forced to complete their journey on foot. Some spent couple of nights on the way before they got to Kumba.
Meanwhile, vehicles heading to Buea and other towns immediately reversed to Kumba when they got information about the obstruction.
Parks played host to the thousands of passengers who remained stranded for days. Some who had urgent issues to handle out of Kumba were forced to travel through the Kumba-Mamfe road though with an increase in transport cost of close to FCFA 15,000.
The blockage equally hindered the supply of goods of basic needs and food items in Kumba, as business persons remained stranded in Buea with their goods.