Cameroon: Women stage protest at Ako gendarmerie brigade, denounce kidnappings by Nigerian Fulani herdsmen

By David Atangana

Scores of women from Buku, a village in Ako subdivision of the Donga-Mantung division of the North West Region of Cameroon have staged a protest at the Ako gendarmerie brigade after their husbands and children were kidnapped.

The incident occurred early Tuesday, June 20, 2023.

Suspected armed Fulani herdsmen from Nigeria stormed Buku village abducting a good number of men and children.

Local sources say kidnapping for ransom is gaining ground in Buku lately.

A viral video obtained by MMI shows Women with peace plants in front of the gendarmerie brigade, demanding that something should be done.

A woman whose family has been targeted repeatedly by the kidnappers said, “This is not the first time. Three months ago, My brother’s wife and other people were kidnapped and we were asked to pay four million ransom which we borrowed and paid”

“Today again, they came for my father and three other people. What is all this? Are we, not Cameroonians who deserve peace and security?” she went on.

Reports say the kidnappers before taking their victims away got the local population, “tortured and left with wounds” while promising to come back for more people.

Despite being an administrative unit under the Republic of Cameroon, Ako has gone without a telephone network for over a year as a result of poor maintenance, leaving the who community in darkness and cut off from the rest of the world.

Such a situation has made the community a soft spot for kidnappers.

It should be recalled over 22 persons from this same were abducted a few months ago and released after a huge ransom was paid.