Raid Leaves Arrested Locals Buying Their Freedom in Bamenda

Cameroon’s defence and security forces carried out a raid in several parts of Bamenda, arresting residents and seizing property. The raids occurred on Sunday, September 29, at a time when the population is facing lockdown threats from separatists.

The targeted neighbourhoods included Early Travellers, Back Travellers, St. Jude, and New Bell, among others.

Eyewitness accounts indicate that residents awoke to find security forces ransacking homes and making indiscriminate arrests.

“I watched as they entered my house and searched every corner. They didn’t find anything, but they still asked my wife and me to get into their truck,” one of the arrested locals told MMI. “They took us to the Central Police Station in Old Town, where I paid 30,000 francs to secure our release.”

He stated, “They did not inform me of the crime my wife and I committed since we both had our identity cards.”

Military trucks transported several other residents to Old Town and various security installations across the city.

As of now, public authorities have not issued any statements explaining the reasons for the raid.

Bamenda, like other towns in the crisis-stricken Anglophone regions, has been at the mercy of gunmen who routinely abuse citizens’ rights through illegal arrests, kidnappings, and extortion.

Mimi Mefo Info –