Curbing Criminality:

50 Vigilante Groups Created in Buea

By Boris Esono in Buea

Kouam Wokam Paul, DO Buea says close to 400 youths have been trained to fight against violence in Buea

Some 400 youths comprising 50 vigilante groups have been trained to augment the security of the population around Buea. Representatives of the vigilante groups were present during a meeting at the Buea council May 9 to discuss the security situations in the municipality.

            These vigilante groups that were created in some communities have been charged to respond to cases which the security forces cannot get to it quickly.

            The occasion was presided over by the DO for Buea, Kouam Wokam Paul; saw the presence of the Mayor of the Buea municipality, Ekema Patrick Esunge, the outgoing commander of the 21st Motorized infantry brigade, General Melingi Donatienne, and various traditional authorities.

            The DO stated that “We trained about 400 of them comprising 50 groups and our challenge now is the smooth collaboration between the vigilante groups and the security forces”. “They have to make sure the information flows smoothly to the security forces and quickness in intervening to cases and alleging in case of any preoccupation”.

            The DO went on to charge the various traditional heads to galvanize their subjects to see the need to celebrate the national day come May 20. “They should make sure that they who are in charge of the population in the various segments that they organize them making sure they are fully mobilized to participate in the 20th May not only by being present at the grand stand but by effectively taking part in the match past”.

            Like other traditional rulers, Njie Mandenge of Wongia has promised the full support of their communities. He out rightly stated that “there is a faction of our brothers who are lying to Cameroonians and we want to disprove them that we are one and indivisible. We will as usual encourage and mobilize our brothers and the population to come out massively and celebrate such as historic day for the country”.

            The meeting was also a forum for stakeholders to shed more light on preparations for this year’s national day celebration.

            This year’s 20th May celebration in the country will be celebrated under a very delicate and tense atmosphere with the present confrontations and fighting between security forces and the liberation forces in Mamfe, Lebialem threatening to spill over in Fako and Buea in particular.

            A case in point is the recent gunshots that were felt in the neighborhoods of Bokwango and that of Dirty south.

            According to eye witness account, the gunshots heard in the early hours of Monday morning in the neighborhood of Bokwango was caused by the exchange of gunfire between the security forces and men of the underworld.

            This goes against many reports that have been circulating over various media platforms and social media talking about an attack by the so-called Ambazonia Defense Forces who had earlier threatened an invasion of the town of Buea.

            Meantime, only recently security forces last Thursday May 3, 2018 raided this same Dirty South neighborhood in search of those allegedly sympathizing to the so-called Ambazonia forces.

According to reports, the raids were related to the separatist forces as it alleged one ‘Doctor’ who returned from Nigeria came with “Ode Chi” powers to train a resistant group as the Anglophone crisis continue to plague the two English speaking regions of the country.

            A second raid also took place still in the neighborhood but this time in a much calm manner as people were stopped by the security forces at night to show their ID cards and those without it were whisked away.