By Moma Sandrine
At least two persons are said to have been killed last night in Bamenda, North West region of Cameroon in an attack on inter-urban transport buses by heavily-armed men on Saturday night, sources have confirmed.
The men succumbed to bullet wounds during the attack on Saturday September 8 in Akum. 36-year-old Timothy Nfoingwe was shot to death in his RAV4 (CE244 number plate) vehicle. The gang also shot to death a driver of an Amour Mezam bus, military sources said.
The attack occurred at about 10pm local time when the armed men affiliated to pro-independence groups first attacked the base of a road construction company in Akum, a locality situated at the entrance to Bamenda, seizing an excavator, sources confirm.
According to our source who prefers anonymity, they took off from Bamenda for Buea at about 8pm. By 10pm, they arrived Akum only to find a group of men digging across the road. As they wondered what could be going on, Timothy, driver at MOGHAMO agency stepped out of his car to find out what was happening. Thinking to himself that the digging on the road was carried out by the forces of law and order maybe for security reasons, without further thoughts, he greeted the men in the French language. Unfortunately for him, the men he greeted were members of the separatist group, Ambazonia who got angered by just getting a word in French and immediately shot at the driver.
The armed men later used the “SATOM” excavator to dig a gorge on the road cutting off the region from the rest of the country.
This created a heavy traffic on the road as all night buses could not cross over and were forced to stop as a result. The armed men then took control of all the vehicles that lined up the road, seizing and destroying identification cards of all passengers, a source said.
The men later used the excavator to destroy at least four 70-seater buses belonging to the Amour Mezam travelling agency and one Moghamo travel agency bus, sources said.
from the rest of the country
This incident caused panic amongst hundreds of passengers that were stuck on the road. “As we stayed in our vehicle for more than 2 hours frightened, those boys digging the road asked us to get our items out of the car and leave. They told us that they had not come for us, that their target was the Amour Mezam agency. No one dared to ask why. At about midnight, we stepped out of our bus and the amba guys started asking us for ID cards. If you presented an ID card, the green, red, yellow portion was broken. As I realized that was the case, I told them I had just the carton ID so my ID card was saved. After the long check, we started wondering around Akum looking for shelter. Some people said we should return to Bamenda but I refused saying it was dangerous. We could face another confrontation with the military which could be worse. At this point, we split. The men went their own direction while myself and other women took the same direction. To this effect, we headed inwards within Akum not knowing where we were stepping our foot. At some point in time we slipped and fell somersaulting at some instances. It was a large group of women some carrying very tender babies. After trekking a considerable distance with the rain descending on us, we knocked at a door belonging to one old man who didn’t hesitate in offering us shelter throughout the night. Even in our very soaked clothes, we could barely feel the cold because of the panic that filled our hearts. It was a terrible experience,” our source narrated.
The excavator was later set ablaze by the men before taking off to the bushes when the military finally arrived at the scene. The stranded passengers were escorted back to Bamenda by the military while works have been immediately launched in the gorged section of the road to enable transport activities return to normal.
Another dusk to dawn curfew imposed on Cameroon’s restive NW region
The Governor of the North West Region of Cameroon Adolphe Lele L’Afrique has imposed another dusk to dawn curfew in the region beginning today.
In a communiqué signed by the Governor on Sunday, “movement of persons and property is…restricted from 6pm to 6am within the North West region till further notice.”
As a result of the curfew, movement of vehicles, persons and goods shall be strictly forbidden while all off licenses, snack bars, snack bars and night clubs shall remain closed, the Governor said.
Motor parks shall remain closed and night travel suspended, Governor Lele L’Afrique added in the communiqué while stressing the circulation of motorbikes will equally be banned.
Any person who violates or attempts to violate this measure shall be strictly prosecuted by the law while administrative authorities as well as forces of law and order have been tasked with implementing the law.
However, the curfew shall not be applied to administrative authorities, forces of law and order, persons and vehicles in possession of special authorizations to circulate and ambulances, the Governor said.
This is the latest curfew imposed on the region after a similar decision at the same period last year imposed to tackle secessionist threats at the approach of the 1st of Octber-which the separatists commemorate as Independence Day for their nation they call Ambazonia.
The curfew was later brought from 9pm to 6am but the Governor has now reverted to the dusk to dawn measure following last night’s events in Akum.