CHRDA condemns Maotu killings, pressures government to open independent investigation

There is outrage following the killing of close to ten persons in Maotu, a locality in Cameroon’s conflict-hit English-speaking South West region.

Rights groups and rights advocates have since called for the perpetrators to be brought to book.

In a release today, the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, CHRDA condemned the killings, noting that they were carried out by “alleged members of the State Defence and Security forces [who] reportedly invaded Maotu village in the Muyuka Subdivision, Fako Division of the South West region and committed the act.”

“Sources revealed that there was a military invasion in the village that kept everyone running for safety. ‘So many people were killed including a grandmother and her grandchild, we do not know what that old woman and the innocent child did to deserve death’ an eyewitness recounted to CHRDA,” it reveals.

The victims, the center says, included women and children, who are classified under the group of vulnerable persons, as well as unarmed boys.

“This attack brings back to the minds of Cameroonians the Ngarbuh and Kumba Massacres, which occurred in 2020,” reads a section of the release.

To this end, “CHRDA calls on the state authorities to investigate this heinous act and let justice be served for the victims”.

“We also call on all combatants to fully respect International Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law” the statement adds.

Several locals have provided a similar testimony, indicting government troops for the act.

The government has however maintained sealed lips over the killings, a move many describe as suspicious.

Mimi Mefo Info