Some residents of Bamenda capital of Cameroon’s restive North West region have condemned what they say is government’s provocative silence following the shooting to death of three youngsters in the metropolis.
The three youths sources told MMI were shot by soldiers. This was in the night of Sunday March 20. The corpses were only spotted in the morning of Monday March 21 in the Bangshe neighbourhood of Bamenda.
Despite the fact that the killing of the trio took place at the backyard of the administrative headquarters of the region, the administration has not condemned the act and has behaved as if nothing happened.
To many a Bamenda denizen, this is just another prove that the administration of the North West region seems to be indifferent to the killings of unarmed civilians especially when accusing fingers are pointing at government forces.
According to Ndifor, a resident of Bangshe, whenever security forces kill unarmed civilians, the administration always behave as if it is a non-event,
“Government forces have the license to kill and you will never hear a government official condemning the killings, this is a clear indication that they support the atrocities committed and don’t care about the lives of the poor masses,” Ndifor said.
He added that the administration will only come out to say a word when pressure is mounting on them. On his part, Kenfack who said he was at the scene and saw the bodies recounted that: “You need to see how the soldiers were behaving when the population gathered and were trying to cover the bodies. They were acting as if they had caught a big fish knowing fully well that they killed innocent civilians”.
He added that not even the Divisional Officer for Bamenda I where the killings took place has not offered a word.
“Come and see how they will be running their mouths when soldiers are attacked by separatist fighters. They will accused us of collaborating with them, now that soldiers have killed innocent boys, they are in their offices drinking coffee, he says in anger.”
The trio were conveyed to Batibo in Momo Division for burial. We hear the corpses were paraded in the streets by the population as they cursed and wished death to the killers of the boys..
