North West Elite Watch From A Distance As Their People Continue To Perish

Scene Of The Explosion, Food Stuff Scattered On The Tar

By Raymond Dingana

In Bamenda and other parts of the crisis battered North West Region of Cameroon, unpleasant news is a daily occurrence. Whether it’s a shooting, a kidnapping for ransom, or civilians being harassed and extorted by men in uniform, the community is often left in despair.

If these horrors are absent for a moment, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) is likely to detonate, causing injury and loss of life among innocent civilians.

On Thursday, September 19, 2024, at about 10:Am, an explosive device went off at the Cow Street entrance of Nkwen Market in the Bamenda III council area. 

One person, 30-year-old Chung Juliet,an internally displaced person IDP from Oku died from her wounds.

Six others including an 11 months old baby were injured as indicated by a press release signed by Simone Emile Mooh, Senior Divisional Officer SDO for Mezam who have been admitted at the Regional Hospital in Bamenda.

"I was at the Mbingo Baptist Hospital when I heard a loud sound. It was deafening. Before I could regain my senses, heavy gunfire erupted. I saw men, women, and children, including uniformed officers, running for shelter,"

Kimbi N., a witness, recounted to Drayinfos.

He further expressed his frustration on why people will choose to attack a market where civilians go in search of daily bread. 

Though no group has claimed responsibility for the act, accusing fingers are pointing towards the direction of suspected separatist fighters whom many say are rather fighting against their own.

The IED was placed in an area where mostly women sell perishables, especially on ghost town days, to provide fresh food for the population.

Despite being aware of the suffering their people endure daily due to the Anglophone crisis, elite of the region rarely come forward to condemn the violence or genuinely advocate for a peaceful resolution. This silence has left the community feeling abandoned.

A vice principal of a renowned private institution in Bamenda remarked, 

"North West elites value their positions more than the people they are supposed to serve. Don’t expect them to seek long-lasting solutions to the crisis. They believe everything possible has been done to resolve it, but that’s not true."

However, some political figures, particularly from the Social Democratic Front (SDF), have consistently called for genuine dialogue to address the crisis. 

They have made their voices heard in the National Assembly, often facing strong opposition from members of the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM), a member of the party noted.

The IED attack comes at a time when separatists' leaders imposed a lockdown forcing the population to stay indoors for fear of the unknown.

This has been condemned by the population who say they are bearing the brunt of the lockdown, with some saying even to feed us a problem,not to talk of taking family members to the hospital when they fall sick.

Empty Street In Bamenda 

As the Anglophone armed conflict continues to escalate, calls for meaningful dialogue persist, despite attempts from some quarters to silence these voices. No matter how hard they try, one thing the people believe in is that what will be will be. 

Read Mezam SDO's reaction below

Drayinfos.com