Mixed feelings expressed over activities of Vigilante groups in Nkambe
Nkambe town, Capital of the Donga Mantung Division -North West region of Cameroon is witnessing a considerate level of calm and security of recent. Many inhabitants have attributed the serenity to the activities of vigilante group members.
“The boys parade the town most especially at night ensuring that separatist fighters do not terrorise the population” a resident who prefers not to disclose her identity told Mimi Mefo Info on phone.
According to our source, the activities of vigilante group members in villages in Nkambe Sub Division are different from those based in Nkambe town. “In Tabenken and Mbot villages, members of the vigilante group are using their powers to terrorise the people and some loot property”.
These members he says sometimes levy false accusations on people for assisting separatist fighters and thereby order for their arrest and detention by forces of law and order.
On the question of who finances the activities of vigilante groups in Nkambe Sub Division, Awumfor Evaristus, President of a vigilante group in Nkambe says “We receive support from sons and daughters of the land who appreciate our work of assisting the military to maintain security in Nkambe. The money we receive helps us to buy materials we use while working at night”. He denied allegations that some political parties finance their activities to silence political opponents.
According to a source in Nkambe, vigilante group members have been equipped with sophisticated weapons to fight separatist fighters alongside the military. Questioned on the types of weapons they use, the President of the vigilante group in Nkambe responded by saying “…these are not issues we tell the press. We are not allowed to say the types of weapons we use and how we get them”.
In a report of a commission that investigated the Ngarbuh massacre on the 14th of February 2020, it was revealed that vigilante group members played a vital role in the killing of innocent men, women and children in Ndu Sub Division.
While the report pointed that military men who killed innocent civilians will face justice, nothing was mentioned on how vigilante group members will be punished for facilitating one of the bloodiest killings since the beginning of the Anglophone crisis.
Separatist leaders in the diaspora have been accusing leaders of the Cameroon People Democratic Movement (CPDM) in Donga Mantung Division for being the brain behind what they call “atrocities committed by vigilante group members in Donga Mantung division”.
Mimi Mefo Info.
