Soldiers Pitch Tent at Balikumbat Health Centre

For close to two weeks now, the medicalised health centre in Balikumbat, Ngoketunjia Division of Cameroon’s North West Region has not been able to attend to patients.

This follows the invasion of the medical institution by soldiers. Sources told Mimi Mefo Info that a military contingent came through Mbouda-Baligansin and later transformed the Balikumbat medicalised health centre into a military barracks.

“When they arrived the health unit, they scared away the few nurses who were at the service of the population… This has brought untold hardship to the population,” a villager recounted. Nursing mothers in Balikumbat are now stranded as they are unable to go for medical checkup or vaccination of their babies.

Even patients have not been able to access  medical care as doctors and nurses have deserted the hospital and the village.

Prior to this military invasion on Thursday September 27 2018, gendarmes and police deserted their duty posts in Balikumbat Subdivision, Ngoketundjia Division. The divisional office and police station were destroyed by pro-independence fighters.

Lawyers have said it is in total violation of international humanitarian law on the protection of medical facilities and personnel. Hospitals and medical personnel have been most affected by the current crisis. Some medical centres were burnt down and the staff caught between security forces and pro-independence fighters.