By David Atangana
At least one soldier and two civilians have been killed and another civilian severely wounded in an armed attack at the Mbaw plain in Ndu Subdivision, Donga Mantung Division of the restive North West Region.
While a soldier and an unidentified civilian died on the spot, two civilians, whose names MMI got as Jang Fred and Theophilus Nyong, were critically injured and rushed to a hospital in the West Region.
But Theophilus Nyong died from gunshot wounds after being rushed to the hospital, bringing the civilian death toll to two.
The incident occurred Sunday, November 17, 2024, after gendarme officers reportedly used a civilian vehicle as shield.
How it Happened
Eyewitness accounts say the civilians were in a vehicle heading out of Donga Mantung through the Ndu-Magba road when they came under attack.
While on transit, the vehicle was stopped in Mbaw and a gendarme officer in plain clothing hopped in, leading to a targeted attack from armed separatists who were just meters away.
An eyewitness narrates in an audio that MMI encountered: “We were in the vehicle coming from the village with Nyong (owner of the vehicle). When we got to Mbaw,we met one man who pleaded that we should help drop him at ‘Warde’. We did not know that he was an armed gendarme officer.
“Few meters away thereafter into our journey, the road was invaded by Amba boys. Surprisingly the man we carried started shooting and jumped out of the car. The boys responded, spraying our vehicle with bullets. I managed to jump out of the vehicle and slept on the ground. Nyong was shot on his arm and stomach. One boy with whom we were and the gendarme officer were shot dead.”
At the time of this report, the Ambazonia State Army, a separatist armed group active in the area and loyal to Samuel Ikome Sako, had claimed responsibility for the attack.
