Briefs

Compiled by Sirri Ntonifor Tangwe in Kumba
 3 drown in Baduma, Kumba
Denizens of Baduma village woke up on Saturday September 18 to a terrible tragedy. Of seven villagers who boarded a boat at Baduma Beach early that morning to cross the River Mungo to get to their farms, three are feared to have drowned.  The boat reportedly had holes already and by the time it reached the middle of the river, it got flooded. The passengers each struggled to save themselves. Four were able to get back to shore. The villagers put up a search party to save the three others or recover their bodies, but at press time, all actions were still in vain. Those feared dead include one Ghanaian and two North-Westerners.

Woman Loses 70.000 FCFA to 419ers
An elaborate plan and two gangsters... that is all it took to rob a young lady in Kumba of 70.000 FCFA in broad daylight without struggle. The young lady (name withheld) visited a ‘Brocante’ shop opposite the new BICEC structure in Kumba to purchase a fridge. Whilst looking at items displayed outside the shop, she fell into conversation with another ‘customer’ who gave the impression that he was a salesperson there.
    After negotiating satisfactorily with him, the lady gave him 70.000 FCFA and her ID card to conclude the sales deal. The villain got into the shop proper with the money and ID card and handed them over to the person at the counter. Thereafter, he remarked that the money was not enough and that he wanted to step out to make up the amount. The money was returned to him and he rushed across the street into a waiting chocolate-coloured Carina E car and the driver sped off.          Meanwhile, the distracted young lady started demanding for the goods she had just purchased, and discovered that she was a victim of the ‘419’s. She could only recover her ID card. Another customer nearby also claimed to have been defrauded by the same crook of 70.000FCFA meant for the purchase of a fridge. The gendarmerie arrived and ferried off the young lady and the other customer. Onlookers joined the gendarmerie officials to opine that the latter was part of the 419 gang, given that his story was questionable.


Ebolowa gets University Campus
The recently created annex campus of the University of Yaounde II, Soa, in the town of Ebolowa will soon go operational this, following the installation of the officials to manage affairs at the campus.
    Eustache Akono Atangana (lecturer) was on Friday 11 September installed as the permanent secretary of the centre for political studies and research. He will also coordinate activities at the annex campus.
    He will be assisted by Joseph Pierre Effa as chief of service for academic affairs and research and Djo’o Franck Elvis as service head for finance.
    The three officials were installed by the dead of the faculty of law and political science of the Yaounde University II, Prof. Magloire  Ondoa.
    In his installation remarks, Prof. Ondoa said the Ebolowa annex campus was created to decongest the law faculty of the Soa campus that presently counts over 28.000 students, 32 professional courses distributed in 4 major departments.
    Prof. Ondoa urged the appointees to put the students at the fore of all their projects.
    Meanwhile, it was also announced that construction work for the structures to host the Ebolowa annex campus would soon begin. An 80 hectare site has been earmarked to host the new campus.

Cameroon – Mali no longer visa-free
Malians seeking entry into Cameroon will henceforth procure an entry visa. This is same for Cameroonians wishing to travel to the West African nation. This new measure has brought an end to the convention entered since 1964 between former president of Cameroon, Ahmadou Ahidjo and his Malian counterpart, Modibo Keita. The convention stated that citizens of the two countries could travel visa-free in and out of both countries.
    Thus, Malians will henceforth have to seek and obtain visas if they must enter Cameroon, and vice versa for Cameroonians. The visas would however be issued free of charge.
    Meanwhile, persons holding diplomatic and service passports may not need to get visas to travel.
    Cameroonian authorities say the new measure was informed by the growing insecurity due to terrorist activities of Boko Haram.
    To ensure effectiveness of the new measure, Mali has moved her consulate in Douala over to Yaounde to cover the entire Cameroon territory.
    Meanwhile, Cameroon has announced plans to create a diplomatic mission in Mali.