A civil servant, who is an employee of the Ministry of Territorial Administration (MINAT) travelling from Yaounde to Buea on Friday night, July 19th, 2024, has accused police officers at the Mbankomo checkpoint of extortion. The traveller, who wished to remain anonymous, alleges that they were stopped due to an expired ID card (receipt) and pressured into offering a bribe to continue their journey.
“One of the police officers controlled IDs and mine had expired 14 days,” the traveler told Mimi Mefo. “He took me to a small room and demanded me to comply [give money] or else I would not be allowed to continue with the journey.”
The civil servant further claims the officer attempted to intimidate them by stating a communiqué regarding expired ID cards only applied to eight regions. They refused to comply, citing their awareness of the regulation.
“I told him that there is a communique against the detention of people with expired ID cards,” the traveler said. “The officer tried to intimidate me, by saying that the communique is applicable only in eight regions, and that if I continue he will take me to the cell.”
The situation reportedly escalated when the traveler’s claims were challenged by another officer.
“He said I would not leave unless I do something,” the traveler continued. “I queried with him for a while, and his other colleague-a police joined him against me. I began talking at a loud tone, and a gendarmerie officer approached and questioned me about the problem, where I stay and work.”
The traveler’s account alleges that mentioning who their employer, the Ministry of Territorial Administration (MINAT), was, resulted in panic they were allowed to leave.
“I explained to him that I work with MINAT at the SDO’s office, he hurriedly collected my card from the police officer, gave me back, and asked me to go,” he told MMI.
While it is not expected that the authorities will respond to the claims of extortion at the Mbankomo checkpoint and carry out an investigation, it is hoped that this report will bring to the public an endemic problem on Cameroon’s roads.
