The Mayor of the Ndu, in the North West Region, Abdou Kafon Borno, has strongly condemned the recent burning of road construction equipment by armed attackers whom he said were separatist fighters.
The incident occurred on the night of January 24, targeting machinery belonging to BUNS, a company responsible for the construction of the Kumbo-Ndu stretch of the Bamenda Ring Road.
According to the Ndu Mayor, the separatists burnt down an excavator, a bulldozer, and vandalized a compactor and a front-end loader at Kilife on the Ndu-Nkambe highway, where the machines were parked.
“This barbaric act took place at Kilife, on the Ndu-NKambe highway where the machines were parked. One of the guards on duty was severely tortured and is presently hospitalized,” Mayor Abdou Borno said in a release.
He condemned the act as “barbaric, inhumane, senseless, unpopular, and unproductive.”
He stressed the significance of the Kumbo-Ndu stretch on the local economy and labeled the attack as “wicked and barbaric.”
This incident is part of a series of attacks on governmental projects carried out by separatist groups advocating for a breakaway state in the English-speaking Regions of Cameroon.
The destruction of road construction equipment has been a recurrent strategy employed by separatist fighters to hinder the progress of government activities in the North West and South West regions since the escalation of the teachers’ and lawyers’ protests into an armed conflict in 2017.
BUNS, the company targeted in the recent attack, had been entrusted with the construction of the Ndu section of the Bamenda Ring Road.
The Bamenda Ring Road is a vital infrastructure project connecting five out of seven Divisions in the North West Region.
The project has been stalled for several years now by many factors, including the government’s lack of willingness and the ongoing armed conflict.
Many had celebrated the resumption of works on this stretch of the Ring Road early this month.
But the recent incident could cause another prolonged halt in works on the road, leaving road users in persistent difficulty.
The Kumbo-Ndu stretch of the Bamenda Ring Road is in a poor state, causing considerable inconvenience for locals, and leading to increased expenses and extended travel times.
The attack on construction equipment not only poses a threat to vital infrastructure development but also raises concerns about the safety of workers and local communities.
