Tarring of Kumba-Mbonge-Ekondo-Titi road:

Villagers clash with soldiers over royalties

-Several villagers, soldier wounded

-Chief of Nganjo-Titi escapes lynching by villagers

By Doh Bertrand Nua in Kumba

Several villagers of Nganjo Titi, a locality in Mbonge Sub-division of Meme division and a military officer have sustained injuries following a deadly clash on Friday 10 November 2017 over the demand of royalties from the Tunisian company that is in charge of the tarring of the Kumba-Mbonge-Ekondo-Titi road.

            The story goes that the irate villagers stormed the equipment pool of the SOUROBAT company demanding royalties for the exploitation of their natural resources.

            We gathered that the irate youths met two military officers on guard at the SOURABAT equipment pool and in an exchange one of the officers fired two gunshots at the crowd that left two of the irate villagers injured. This reaction of the security officers provoked the youths who reposted in self-defense. The ensuing battle left a security officer badly injured.

This reporter gathered that the youths after the encounter with the forces of law and order at the SOROUBAT equipment base left and went to their traditional ruler; Chief Esmem Mbonji Etongwe whom they accused of collecting over FCFA 50 million from the construction company as royalties but failing to share it with the villagers.

            The angry villagers explained to reporters that they attacked their chief because he (Chief Eseme) wanted to feed fat alone on what they thought was meant for the entire village.

            For his part, chief Eseme of Nganjo Titi, who doubles as the Secretary General of the Meme Chief’s conference, as well as principal of GHS Big Bekondo, in an exchange with reporters in Kumba, said he ran to safety in Kumba to avoid the wrath of his angry subjects.

            “I was at the Mbonge council chambers to transact some business when youths alighted on bikes armed with clubs searching for me. When I heard the noise; luckily I was in the council chambers so I quietly and quickly hid myself in one of the toilets. After they searched and could not find me, they left. I immediately left for Kumba escorted under heavy military protection,” Chief Eseme narrated. He added that one of his close aides was murdered in cold blood by the angry mob while some others sustained severe injuries.

            Chief Eseme revealed that after being accused of collecting FCFA 50 million from SOROUBAT, the villagers also accused him of being the reason why the village does not have electricity until today. He has however denied all these accusations.

            It should be recalled that before the Friday November 10 incident, chief Eseme had only recently escaped another attempted lynching by his villagers. In this other incident he was accused of collecting FCFA 700 000 from SOROUBAT for exploitation of a quarry in the village. According to the villagers, the money collected was not shared equitably.

            At the moment, some of the injured victims are receiving treatment. Meanwhile the administration has begun investigations to ascertain the root cause of the matter.