Some months ago, a repentant separatist fighter confessed to taking part in the macabre act, promising to bring the forces of law and order to the scene.
It is now clear that five of the six divisional delegates kidnapped by Ambazonia Separatist fighters in the Ndian division of the restive South West region of Cameroon were killed and buried in a mass grave.
In a recent military operation, the defense forces made their way through Makobe village’s dense forest to the Lipenja camp, where the civil servants’ graves were located.
“We are here in Makobe, 20 km from Ekondo Titi, inside the bush. We came to remove the remnants of those five delegates who were kidnapped in June 2021 and buried here,” said Lieutenant Colonel Nguele Joseph, leading the operation.
He revealed that “We discovered a mass grave in which they were buried. We dug and retrieved just their skeletons.”
The Skeletons were carried in plastic bags.
The skeletons, according to the operations commander, will be presented publicly in Buea and handed to the families.
“The next procedure is that we will present the remnants in Buea so that the families can see them and receive them for burial,” said Lieutenant Colonel Nguele.
Background.
It was on June 15, 2023, in Masore Balue village in Ekondo Titi, when armed separatist fighters commanded by a certain ‘General’ 10kobo abducted six divisional delegates serving in the Ndian division of the South West region.
One of the delegates, Mabia Johnson Mudika, of the economy, planning, and regional development, reportedly died shortly after her abduction.
Others who remained in separatist captivity were killed and buried in a mass grave, including Elvis Ebaku, Divisional Delegate of State Property, Land Tenure, and Surveys; Felicia Ndong, Divisional Delegate of Housing and Urban Development; Elad Emmanuel, Divisional Delegate of Water and Energy Resources; Mbida Armand Christian, Divisional Delegate of Small and Medium Enterprises; and Stephen Nyenty, Divisional Chief of Surveys.
MMI gathered that at the time of their abduction, they were on a mission to demarcate and plan pillars on a parcel of land to be allocated to electricity company ENEO for the construction of a power plant.
Their whereabouts were unknown to anyone until recently when one of the separatist fighters repented and made a confession.
Tamaya Clinton, a 24-year-old fighter who surrendered to the DDR, revealed that the delegates were killed and buried.
His confession prompted the deployment of a contingent of state forces to the area where they were buried.
Death of General 10 Kobo
The question on everyone’s lips has been, the whereabouts of the self-styled ‘General 10 Kobo, the author of the act.
The man who commanded a separatist militia known as Expendable 100 has not been seen in public for a very long time. He was linked to a number of crimes against civilians, including the killing of schoolchildren in a school in Kumba.
According to Clinton’s confession, “10 Kobo died from bullet wounds following a shootout with the military.”
