Northwest: Batibo population decry extortion by Ambazonia Defence Forces

By Soulemanu Buba

People living in Batibo, Momo Division of the restive Northwest Region, have said the Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF), a faction Separatist Fighters under AGovC — operating in the area, are making life unbearable for them.

A victim of what has been described as an ADF extortion scheme told MMI that the fighters have levied compulsory taxes on them, and have made life more complicated amid general economic hardship.

“All men are forced to pay 10,000frs and women 5,000frs each year to the ADF as tax,” a resident of Batibo and victim of the exploitative scheme told MMI.

“These are people who say they are fighting for us. Just of recent at Kugwe, ADF fighters evaluated all food stuffs like cooking oil, plantains and other crops and taxes paid to ADF before they could be sold,” the victim said.

He noted that the separatists abuse and victimise the population just about two kilometres from Ambo, a village in Batibo where a military post is located.

“We strongly believe that at this juncture, the separatists could be conspiring with the Cameroon military to milk the population,” said one of the locals.

Kugwe and Ewae villages in Batibo Subdivision have remained strongholds of the Ambazonia Defence Forces during the past five years of the ongoing conflict in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon.

In the past, the group has extended some of its attacks to Wabane Subdivision in Lebialem Division of the Southwest, where they are said to have killed many people suspected of working with the Cameroon military.

In August last year, soldiers launched an assault on the ADF camp in Batibo where they killed at least 10 fighters and dispersed some.

But from all indications, they have re-grouped.

They are among several armed groups littered across the Northwest and Southwest Regions, where a bloody conflict over quest for an independent state called ‘Ambazonia’ had ensued for nearly seven years.

Mimi Mefo Info