The last day of the Festival Heritage of Arts and Culture, FEHACU 2021 almost ended in a fiasco following an explosion that occurred at the entrance to the Nkwen Fon’s Palace.
The population accused the gendarmes in Nkwen of planting the device to sabotage the cultural event which they said was a success.
They said they were shocked that a Municipal Council under the Social Democratic Front (SDF) Political Party will organize such a successful and crowd-pulling event.
The explosion did very little to scare away the population. Activities went on as if nothing had happened.
Though the gendarmes could be seen sending people away and even hitting some bike riders at the entrance to the Nkwen Fon’s Palace, some said they were only dramatizing the incident to make it appear real.
Many still believed the device was planted by the gendarmes.
“If anything was truly planted there, then the gendarmes are responsible. We know these things. They can no more fool us,” and eye-witnessed who asked to be identified only as Thierry said.
“I don’t know what they wanted to achieve but their plans failed,” Ma Lydia, another native of Nkwen. She continued, “our ancestors will not allow them to use us and get money from Yaounde. Whatever was discovered there was planted by them.”
The device was finally deactivated after it was shot several times by the soldiers. The gunshots scared the population who were about to take to their heels but were assured that it was nothing.
The event ended unperturbed, prizes were awarded and not one item of the program was left out because of the bomb scare.