Bamenda: Gunmen rob three financial institutions in broad daylight

By Soulemanu Buba

Gunmen last week launched broad day attacks on three financial institutions in Northwest Regional capital Bamenda, among them Bafut Credit Union, and two branches of Express Exchange.

On Friday, March 3, armed robbers on board a taxi stormed a local branch of Bafut Credit Union located at Small Mankon, Bamenda, where they stole huge sums of money.

The bandits reportedly shot one person in the leg, although the credit union has so far made no official statement about it.

“They came, carried out their operation, left without anyone knowing about it. We only got the information after they had left,” a source familiar with the incident said.

Customers have also accused the financial house of doing very little to safeguard their money.

“The credit union seems not to have a serious security system,” said Afanui, one of the members of the credit union.

“How come the robbers had an easy way in to the credit union? The board of directors should sit up, Afanui,” he wondered to MMI.

After the attack on Bafut Credit Union, robbers also attacked Express Exchange branch office in Nkwen, Bamenda, where they took away huge sums of money.

Another attack on a branch of the financial house located at Hospital Roundabout in Bamenda was unsuccessful, MMI learned.

We are told the workers there managed to fight off the lone gun man who succeeded to escape when the alarm system was switched on.

For some time now, financial houses in Bamenda have suffered many incidents of armed robbery.

But the robbers have however failed to penetrate other financial houses thanks to their robust security systems.

Many financial institutions in the city have security guard, who are usually contracted from local security companies.

But the rising armed attacks on banks shows most of these security guards are more of a window dressing, opined Fru Nick, a Bamenda resident.

Given the rising armed robbery, some financial companies are now seeking smarter security systems powered by technology.