Bamenda residents decry increased kidnappings after drop in security

Close to six persons are said to have been abducted in Ndamumong, Ntasen and Mulang Quarters in Bamenda, North West Region in the past few days.

Picked up by suspected separatist fighters in different instances, locals say the drop in the number of security men deployed is to blame.

The reduction was witnessed as top security officials visited the region over the weekend, necessitating an increase in their own security, MMI is told.

“The military barrack at Mubang was just removed. Since Saturday and Sunday, Ntaseng and Mubang have since been under persecution. These [amba] boys just enter the quarter and do as they please,” a source stated.

The separatist fighters, he added, “stop people on the way and seize their phones, collect money and even rape women. It is too bad.”

“The quarter was already getting full but residents have started leaving again… They kidnap people, take them to the bushes and ask for ransom.”

The fighter responsible for the acts, our source adds, is known as ‘Captain’ Badman of the 7 Kata Team controlled by Chris Anu and Ikome Sako based in the United States of America.
MMI cannot independently verify the claims.

Following “Operation Bamenda Clean” launched by security forces months ago, the rate of abduction and killings in the town, it should be recalled, had dropped. But things seem to be getting uglier.

Soldiers, however, were accused of several rights violations, some of which the government has not yet admitted.