By Tata Mbunwe
A municipal councillor in Ndu, North West region, has been brutally killed by separatist fighters after weeks in captivity, while a council worker is fighting for his life after passing through what the Mayor, Abdou Kafon Borno, describes as the same torture chamber.
In a press release dated September 21, the Mayor says Mr Issa Ntarike, Councillor for Ntisaw and President of the Driver’s Union of Ndu Subdivision, was abducted on Tuesday, August 25, and tortured continuously until he was finally killed on September 15.
His family reportedly paid a huge sum of money as ransom, but the fighters still went ahead to kill him. His corpse has not yet been recovered. He leaves behind a widow and six children.
The Mayor says the abductors were amba fighters of Ngarbuh/Mbam.
Another victim, a Council worker, is fighting for his life at the Nkambe Regional Hospital Annex after enduring the same ordeal. His family also had huge sums of money extorted from them.
Ndu has been under what the Council describes as a reign of terror for months, marked by kidnapping, ransom-taking, and aggravated torture by separatist fighters. The Mayor says the community is in serious agony as no one knows who might be next.
“A handful of armed individuals using secession as password have confiscated the destiny of our people and have been using it carelessly for their own ends,” the release reads.
The Council has called for community dialogue, urging traditional and religious authorities, civil society organisations, and opinion leaders to continue peace and reconciliation efforts previously initiated.