BY Noela E. BISONG & SIMON N. KALLA
Palpitating tensions rocked Limbe III municipality in the week just passing and it remains unclear if the said tensions are over yet or rather ‘sleeping dogs have just been allowed to sleep in the mean time. Talks of the ceding of the historic Bimbia Slave Trade Site to an individual, Gilgal Tours Company, without the knowledge of local authorities, sparked up an atmosphere of animosity which reached climax on Tuesday, but was ‘technically’ handled with the failure of Arts and Culture Minister, Bidoung Mkpatt’s arrival as earlier announced. His visit had been programmed to chair a double ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the construction of a monument at the Slave Trade Site in Bimbia, Limbe III Municipality, in partnership with Gilgal Tours Company which the ministry had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with.
But all done in confidentiality and sidelining the Limbe III Council and traditional rulers, paved way for suspicion and thus outcry for what the local authorities termed, ‘Stripping the municipality of its most precious treasure’.
The said meeting which had been programmed for Tuesday, January 14, at 11am in Bimbia, to be presided at by the Minister of Arts and Culture, Pierre Ishmael Bidoung Mkpatt, did not hold.
On Monday January 13, 2025 during a peaceful protest march in Limbe, natives of Bimbia carried out placards with messages such as; Bimbia Fako we say No to oppression, No selling of the Bimbia Slave Trade Center, Don’t temper with the Bimbia Slave Trade village, among others.
Mayor Nseke speaks
In an exclusive chat which he granted The SUN on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, the Mayor of Limbe III Council, Nseke Luma Dibotti said, “you can’t do such a huge project, without consultations…All what the people of Limbe III are asking is inclusive consultations, let us be part of it, let’s know what’s happening”, he said.
Veteran Chief Ipupa Samuel Ekum reacts
In his intervention, the president of Limbe Chief’s Conference, HRH Chief Samuel Epupa Ekum, chief of Dikolo village in Bimbia said, “we got the message starting from Thursday, January 9, 2025 during the annual seminar of Bishops in Cameroon and we were saying it can’t happen and subsequently the news came out to be true.”
“If not of the peace-loving attitude of a Bimbia man, it could have been bloodshed…but by the special grace of God, Christianity started in Bimbia”, he said.
HRH Chief Samuel Epupa expressed sadness that Fako has become ‘a no man’s land’ and urged his subjects to always put on strong resilience to overcome any pressure in line with their ancestral land.
“What is happening in Fako has touched everybody. Fako has been a place people take for guaranteed and it’s us that have made the people to take us that way”, he said.
“If we were reacting like this before, I think things could not be the way they are, but it is never too late. We have started and it should continue”, HRH Chief Samuel Epupa said.
The youth perspective
On his part, the chairman of Youth Committee of the Royal Chiefdom of Limbe and indigene of Bimbia village, Henry Njalla Quan Jr. said such a historic tourist site cannot be handed to a third party but should be managed by the community or Limbe III Council. He said however that if the government deemed it necessary for economic reasons to hand it to a third party, there are Sons and Daughters of Bimbia, Limbe and Fako who are equipped and experienced to run the place.
The demonstrators later on marched along the stretch of road from the Paramount Chief Place in Mbonjo to the Senior Divisional Office for Fako, to hand their resolutions.
Gilgal Tours Company CEO speaks out
On his part, the CEO of Gilgal Tours Company, Eric Igwacho says his vision is to make Bimbia Slave Trade village a tourist magnet in Africa. He made the statement on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 during a press conference he organised at Gilgal Tower, New Town Limbe.
“The Bimbia Slave Trade village is something I’m passionate about because my vision is that everybody will benefit from it; Bimbia community, Limbe and the country. So, I’m let by my spot to do those things. I think there’s a divine intervention in my life, if I carry on these things you’ll see the results way after. So the Bimbia Slave Trade village is not for my personal benefit, it will create job opportunities for the young people”, Eric Igwacho explained.
Quizzed if he wants to tamper with the Slave Trade Site, he said that the agreement is a Public partnership 10 years renewable, that the government will supervise the partnership throughout.
Eric Igwacho is optimistic that he cannot quit despite the peaceful protest of Bimbia natives protesting that government should yield to their demand. He admitted his fault for not informing the local authorities about the project due to the limited time frame of the occasion but was planning to meet them before the outcry of people.
Igwacho told the press that he is a Notable of Bonagombe village and so, he is one of theirs and cannot be rejected to carry on his developmental project.
It should be noted that, another set of youths also marched with placards along the stretch of road to Gilgal Tower building in New Town Limbe, with messages such as; We the youths of Limbe welcome investors in our city, the youths of Limbe are proud of Gilgal Tours Company etc.