Fake officer who duped many on ID card production arrested

Officials of the 9th district police station in Yaounde, the Capital city of Cameroon, recently arrested a 25-year-old, called Soh Talla for posing as a Superintendent of Police. He was presented to the police on September 15, 2023.

Soh has reportedly been torn in the flesh of many Yaounde residents, another case in a series.

One of his victims, a lady, accused him of extorting close to FCFA 350,000 to establish an express International Passport and National Identity card, but he ended up never producing any passport.

The lady later notified officials at Camp Sic in Mendong, Yaounde, located at the 9th District Police Station.

Authorities proceeded to arrest Soh and place him behind bars.

ID cards, a national issue

Producing Identity cards (ID) in Cameroon today is a major problem. Citizens have to wait for months and even years, just to get original copies of their ID cards produced.

“I have had my ID card receipts renewed several times, until, the police no longer have any space to place another renewal signature. I cannot do any financial transactions without an original ID, this is making life so difficult for us,” lamented a Douala resident.

As cases of frustrated citizens pile up, many have now resorted to using unorthodox means to obtain the originals of the document.

“That is where fraudsters like Soh come into the picture, promising solutions that they cannot provide, and they end up making away with money from their victims. Such cases abound,” said another Cameroonian.

Armstrong, a resident of Bamenda, claims that he spent almost half a million Francs CFA to obtain a copy of his original ID card.

“I paid over FCFA 400,000 to obtain an original ID card. I am thankful that I succeeded. I needed to complete some urgent documents. What about those who lack that kind of money? I felt so happy because I obtained my first original ID card in Cameroon since I started the process of getting one,” Amstrong said.

How can this problem be addressed?