Saturday, August 12, 2023, was a day like no other in Fundong, Boyo division of the North West region. It was total jubilation after a public transport vehicle successfully made it to the Divisional headquarters from Bamenda after months of road blockage.
For reasons that are unknown to anyone, Ambazonia separatist fighters blocked the Bamenda-Boyo road for two months.
Public transportation became a nightmare for the local population as they undertook risky ventures not only at the cost of money but also their lives.
“I have had to go to my village in Fundong two times during this period of road blockage,” a road user told MMI, adding that “I paid huge sums of money to be carried through bush roads by commercial motorcycle riders.”
“It was always a big risk as we lied our way through with the gunmen we met,”
The town of Fundong was in total joy upon receiving the good news they had been waiting for in the past months.
A Bamenda denizen who hails from Boyo told MMI that, “We are happy that the road is reopened. Our prayer is that it should not be blocked again.”
The reopening of Bamenda-Boyo Road comes after that of Bamenda-Ndop, which suffered a similar fate months ago.
At the moment, Bamenda-Mbengwi and Nkambe-Ndu roads remain blocked in the restive North West region.
Armed militants of the Ambazonia separatist movement, who are fighting to establish a state in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon, frequently block roads.
A majority of locals disagree with the strategy, which has for some time been inflicting pain on the local population, raising questions about its intended purpose.
