Travelers Stranded After Gun Attack on Ekombe Military Base

Soldiers in a training camp 

Faceless individuals on board motorcycles are feared to have staged an attack around a military base in Ekombe, Mbonge Sub-division, South West Region of Cameroon, on Wednesday, September 19, resulting in traffic hold up.

            The attackers are said to have made attempts to attack the base at a time when the security forces had stepped out for official assignment.  Sustained gunfire for hours around the area left scores of people travelling between the Kumba-Mbonge Road axis stranded on both ends of the road.

            The Lake Site Radio Kumba in a Thursday early shift of broadcast gave details on the attack as lasting for over four hours. The media house reported that the men on board the motorcycles were armed with dane guns. The same media indicated that the yet to be identified group claimed it is part of pro-independence fighters, who are seeking a separate state for the North West and South Regions of Cameroon.

            Ekombe, a farming locality on the outskirts of Kumba, but placed administratively under Mbonge Sub- division has had one of the deadliest battles in the Anglophone Crisis.

            On July 12 this year, a convoy of Cameroon’s Defence Minister, Joseph Beti Assomo, came under attack from separatists’ agents in Ekombe. Asomo had visited the military base to encourage soldiers and evaluate their working conditions. In that incident, raging battles resulted in the wounding of a journalist of the state-owned Cameroon Triune Newspaper.

            Earlier on Friday, February 9 this year, gunmen swooped on a convoy of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) along the same road. The attackers went away with FCFA 30 million workers’ salaries and a hilux vehicle.

            Despite reports of Wednesday’s attack, the Prefect for Meme Division, Chamberlin Ntou’ou Ndong, is yet o make any statement on the happenstance.