Bui Division: Vekovi villagers desert houses as military goes amok

Residents of Vekovi in Bui Division, North West Region say a military raid has left them seeking shelter in the bushes.

“Early yesterday, we were surprised from our beds with a heavy military shooting which went on for an hour without any confrontation,” says a native who opts for anonymity.

Later on, he says, separatist fighters retaliated, creating more panic in the community.

“We were forced to dash into the bushes and later on went back in the evening when there was calm,” he explains.

The return to the village was however short-lived as natives feared they would not survive subsequent attacks.

“A majority of us went back to the bushes,” our source says, “due to warning signals of gunshots again. What created fear in our hearts is the news we got from many sources in Bamenda saying the military is reinforcing to come back so no one should sleep there in the village”.

Life in the bushes, he says, is no better.

“We are sleeping here with nothing to accommodate us,” he tells us.

Thousands have been killed and hundreds of villages burnt to the ground since the Anglophone crisis escalated into an armed conflict.

Mimi Mefo Info