Bamenda, Cameroon – An unsettling incident marred the closing day of the Bamenda III Festival of Heritage Arts and Culture (FEHACU) on Thursday, December 28th, 2023. Gunshots erupted around the Nkwen Palace at approximately 8 p.m., sending festival-goers and locals scrambling for safety.
The festival, celebrating the cultural heritage of the Bamenda people, had just concluded with vibrant displays of traditional dance and artistic expressions. Many had gathered at a popular bar near the palace entrance to unwind when separatists arrived on motorbikes and started firing indiscriminately. The event abruptly came to an end.
“It’s still unclear how I managed to get home,” said Mundi, one of the bar owners, still rattled by the incident. “The memories of the Big G incident in November are still fresh, and this just brought it all back,” he added.
Witnesses described the attackers as armed and aggressive, causing widespread panic. It is not the first time that separatists who have been fighting for an independent state called ‘Ambazonia’ in Anglophone Cameroon are disrupting public events and shooting at unarmed civilians.
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“These attacks on public spaces, where they fire at and even kill innocent people, have become their hallmark,” stated one witness. “It seems they were trying to disrupt the festival and instill fear in anyone attending FEHACU,” noted the source who preferred to remain anonymous.
This viewpoint is consistent with observations made by others who claim that separatists intended to undermine the frequently extolled narrative of peace in the region which has been hit by a bloody conflict for over seven years.
The Bamenda III Council organised FEHACU, which serves as a forum for artistic exchange and cultural expression. The festival’s success, however, appears to be a point of contention for some groups seeking to portray a different reality.
While the specific motives of the attack remain unclear, the incident undeniably casts a shadow over the celebratory spirit of FEHACU. The festival, intended to showcase the richness and resilience of Bamenda culture, now finds itself entangled in the complexities of the ongoing regional conflict.
