BY ANANG BLECK and DANIELLA ENOW
Many villages in Kembong, Manyu Division of the South West Region, have fled into the bushes after gun battles between the military and suspected separatist fighters left some persons killed and houses burnt down.
Meanwhile, Kwa Kwa, and Bakundu Mission all the Kumba -Ekondo-Titi-Mundemba highway have for the past week, gone down in history as some of the places that witnessed serious clashes between the defence and security forces and armed groups believed to be members of the Ambazonia Defense Force.
In Kembong, the separatist fighters took over the village, burning houses and building an Ambazonia camp, while taking families hostage.
The confrontations recorded serious casualties from both sides, leaving many persons homeless and internally displaced. Many of them sought refuge in nearby villages and dense forests.
According to Makia Peter, a notable of Mbo Barombi village, some 500 people have fled into the village for safety, resulting in hardship in the area.
Confrontations between the military and separatist groups believed to be members of the Ambazonia Defence Force began in Manyu. Villagers from Kembong, Agborkem German, Dadi, Akwaya and others are already registered as refugees in Nigeria after fleeing from violence.
Many had thought that the situation in Manyu had been contained, considering the recent visit of the Minister of Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo, and the heavy deployment of troops to the area. The battlefront has seemingly shifted to Meme.
It all started with the killing of the 3rd class Chief of Ngongo village, HRH Chief Ekebe Johannes, in Mbonge Subdivision in the wee hours of Friday April 27, 2022 at the funeral of his colleague of Kwa Kwa, Chief Manfred.
THE SUN gathered that the murder was committed by Amba fighters around a sawmill trance to Bole Bakundu.
This occasioned the deployment of troops to the area. Kwa Kwa and Kembong were therefore transformed into a battlefiled place where families were separated.
Families and victims are inconsolable and neighbours have been unable to catch a glimpse of sleep since the gruesome killings. Many live in total fear and uncertainty, praying for a miracle that will end the bloodbath caused by the Anglophone crisis that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives for about seven years now.
As we went to press, government, through the Ministry of Defence, had issued a communique accusing separatist fighters of having the massacre at Kembong Junction. Curiously, the communique was silent over the killings, burning and destruction of property at Kembong Village Quarter in Mamfe.