The Cameroon army has inflicted what many say is unbearable pain on the population of Mbengwi Road, a neighborhood in Bamenda II Sub-Division of the North West Region of Cameroon, Wednesday, December 8, 2021.
Dozens of houses were razed including businesses. Some civilians are also suspected to have been killed by the soldiers who were frustrated after suspected separatist fighters detonated an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that destroyed a military vehicle.
Reports say many soldiers may have lost their lives as a result of the attack. Talking to our correspondents on the ground, Njilela said before his girlfriend’s phone went dead, she said their house was on fire.
“She called me in the afternoon and her voice was shaky. I thought she had lost her pregnancy only for her to tell me that Cameroon soldiers have set their house on fire. She said they had taken refuge elsewhere. That was the last thing she said and since then, I haven’t heard from her. I just pray nothing bad has happened to her,” he said.
Most of the houses that were targeted were those nicely constructed ones along the Bamenda- Mbengwi Road.
One of the victims whose identity we are concealing for security reasons said more than ten houses were burnt down and that shops were also looted before being set ablaze.
“We will reconstruct and if they burn fifty times, we will reconstruct fifty times. That is the Anglo-Saxon spirit which they are trying to kill but will not succeed. We will share the little we have with those who have lost everything because that is who we are,” he pointed out.
We also gathered on the ground that a soldier who wanted to rape a lady was seriously wounded by the lady’s junior brother who used a nail bar on him. He was hit on the head before they could take on their heels.
We are told the house where the attempted rape took place was later razed. We are also informed that shops were also burnt down at the Hospital Roundabout while the corpses of some of those killed were dumped around the area.
At press time, the burnings were still going on with no one able to say when it will stop.
Worthy of note is the fact that the Cameroon military under the regional command of North West Governor, Adolphe Lele Lafrique, General Nka Valére of the 5th Military Region among others have embraced what observers say is a scorch earth policy whose aim is to instill collective punishment on the local population.
All seven divisions of the Northwest Region have had their share of the Military scorch-earth policy.
Analysts say this strategy by the military is counterproductive as it goes a long way to infuriate the Anglophones who may just be left with no other option but to fight back as they have been doing since 2016.
