Commercial bike riders acted out a scene around Bamenda’s Hospital Roundabout on March 6, 2025, as they pounced on a taxi, vandalizing it after its occupants allegedly snatched a woman’s purse.
A bike rider who witnessed the alleged robbery, alerted the police, who were at a checkpoint at the Hospital Roundabout in Bamenda.
The officers managed to intercept the taxi, but before they could take full control of the situation, a crowd, mostly consisting of commercial motorcycle riders, descended on the vehicle.
The mob overturned and shattered the taxi, leaving it in ruins.
The four occupants of the taxi narrowly escaped mob justice as security forces intervened just in time and arrested them.
The officers later took the suspects to the 6th Mobile Police station, GMI6, for further investigation.
Meanwhile, city dwellers continued to fume over the incident. They expressed total intolerance of armed robbery, especially at a time when Bamenda city and its environs are still reeling from an eight-year-long armed conflict.
“We are this angry because our ends can barely meet. While others are struggling to work even with the insecurity, some others are trying to harvest from where they did not farm”, said a bike rider. “Such will not continue to happen,” he added.
Cases of theft have been rampant in Bamenda, with the population often taking matters into their hands.
Earlier, MMI had reported a case of bike theft at New Road, in Bamenda III, during which the alleged thief was killed by the bike rider whom he wanted to rob.
