By Peterkins Manyong
Within the past few months, insecurity in Cameroon has reached alarming proportions. Armed robbers have gone berserk burgling financial institutions, sometimes in broad daylight and also killing and raping women.
In Yaounde recently, a French woman by name Verne was shot and killed
in cold blood. Others include a Moroccan diplomat and, even more
shocking, a police officer, Gabriel Ngeh.
In Douala and Kumba the story is the same. But the situation is most
disturbing in Bamenda and its environs. Recently in Santa, two gruesome
murders took place. A 21-year-old teacher was raped, killed and the
eyes gorged out.
Allegations are rife that this was the handiwork of Internet scammers who had been ordered by an occult group to which they belonged, to send them the eyes of a young woman. Then followed the killing of Hadison Mokom, a businessman, after which his wife was brutally raped. The case of Paul Tah, former GBHS bursar, is another pathetic one.
On November 11, during the PCC Golden Jubilee celebrations, the residence of the Principal of PSS Mankon was burgled while he was preaching the Jubilee sermon in church. Concerning rape, the case of one Ashu Eyong who resided in Ntarinkon quarter in Mankon is still very much the object of concern. She was raped twice and she finally died.
Impunity
What is painful about the whole issue is the impunity with which these armed robbers behave. They behave as if the town belongs to them. This nonchalance results from the fact that Bamenda residents have given in to them. And because most of these hoodlums operate with sophisticated guns, neighbours fear to intervene when a robbery operation is going on.
Some of them are so daring that they even announce their coming and
in most cases, keep the appointment. Others, even after the operation,
contact the victims assuring them that the items would be brought back
if a certain amount of money is paid to them.
Complicity Of Families, Judiciary
While administrative and security officials may receive part of the blame, a reasonable proportion of the blame goes to the judiciary, penitentiary service, friends and family members. When police and gendarmes arrest these hoodlums and hand them to the judiciary, they are detained.
But the next day we find them back in the streets,
threatening whoever could have caused their arrest. Those who bail them
are family members.Northwest Governor, Koumpa Issa, and Mezam SDO, Jules Marcellin Djaga,
may have other positive characteristics; fighting crime is not one of
them. Both have been accused of not doing enough to halt the alarming
rate of insecurity in the town.
Why Insecurity Is Alarming
The usual explanation is the high rate of unemployment, but it is also a moral problem. There is a regrettable lack of moral rectitude even at the highest rung of society. The penitentiary has perhaps the greatest share of the blame. Many of these hoodlums are either escapees from the Bamenda Central Prison or are convicts who operate and go back there.
Female Involvement
The high prevalence of female-armed robbers can also be blamed on government. The Ministry of Women Empowerment and the Family seem only preoccupied with collective marriages, forgetting about single women.
Little is being done to provide funds that could enable women to engage in more honourable activities. Even those who embark on prostitution find it difficult to make ends meet because of HIV/AIDS and the economic crisis, which have crippled the sex industry. The girls are left with no option than to become informants to gangs of thieves and in the process get trained by them. Recently, three girls were caught operating with armed gangs.
Implications
Because of this high rate of insecurity, social and economic life in Bamenda is worsening with each passing day. Women, who roast fish and plantains at roadsides, close and go home early. People are scared to sit and share drinks with friends. Nightclub life is soon becoming a thing of the past.
At this time of the year, "bushfallers" return home to enjoy Christmas. But their parents have advised them against coming home because of insecurity in Bamenda. Needless to say that tourists are scared about visiting the towns.
Bamenda has already taken the lead by organising a conference on insecurity to hold at Ayaba Hotel to find means of curbing the high rate of insecurity in the town. One Simon Nkwenti, coordinator of the conference, has involved the administration, security officials, the church, traditional authorities and all opinion leaders in particular and the population in general.
Government should understand that as insecurity continues and there is a proliferation of arms in the country, top officials would soon be the targets.
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