By Peterkins Manyong
Late Cyprian Ekwensi, prolific Nigerian novelist, might not have been a paragon in the domain of fiction, at least not in the opinion of Eustace Palmer, Sierra Leonean critic who described Ekwensi's works as "a perfect example of how not to write fiction."
But those who have read works like "Beautiful Feathers," "People of the City" and, particularly, "Survive the Peace", would agree that there is more of sentiment than truth in the critique of Palmer.
"Survive the Peace", the source of our inspiration, stands out because of the realistic picture it paints of the aftermath of the 1967-70 Nigerian Civil War, characterized by dare-devil criminal ventures.
In "Survive the Peace", armed robbers are so free that they mockingly join the very persons they are robbing to call the police, who of course are either too afraid or lukewarm to come.
Armed gangs in Cameroon have within the last one and half months demonstrated as much, if not more audacity than the fictitious ones referred to.The Limbe raid seemed to be an experiment to confirm the white livered nature of our security forces. The success of the experiment is certainly the reasons why armed burglars have since become more audacious.
As if taking the cue from their Limbe "schoolmasters", hoodlums in Bamenda have held up even military men and sustained with impunity a series of attacks at Up-station, the most militarized zone in Bamenda.
Criminal gangs even include women. An operation at Sabga Hill some three weeks ago was led by a woman, who reportedly gave Ndop Company Commander, Ali May, a run for his money.
Rape Galore
Sabga Hill is the scene of a new approach to this form of sexual violence where the gangsters wear condoms before indulging in the act. These can be considered "responsible rapists" - the reverse of true of the other gangster rapists.
The story of a 20-year female teacher who was raped in Santa and her eyes gorged out is already a familiar one. Stories abound that her killers were occultists initiated through the Internet and that they acted on instructions from their grandmasters who demanded the eyes of a young woman.
Men are not the only perpetrators of sexual violence. The story is told of a four-member female gang that captured a mental patient residing at Rendezvous quarters, Bamenda, and held him hostage at Njimafor, near CENAJES taking turns in ravishing him. They finally left him a half conscious since, apparently, they failed to feed him properly after each sex bout.
The female rapists are said to belong to a cult which imposes sex with a mad man as a precondition for granting their requests. It is also believed that some of the rapists are sero-positive persons goaded on by the sadistic "I-no-go-die-me-one impulse."
Kidnapping
This is not entirely a new practice in Cameroon. Kidnapping has never, however, reached the dimension it attained last October 31, when a group calling itself Bakassi Freedom Fighters attacked a ship belonging to the Boubon Group and seized 10 people.
But unlike other hostage takers, the group formerly a component of the movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, are demanding no ransom.They want the Biya regime to negotiate with them. Rather than heed their demands, the regime did something really silly. Troops were sent to rescue the hostages by use of physical force.Today, we hear stories about a French man killed. A story the rebels have refuted.
But what, however, bothers Cameroonians is Biya's habit of spoon-feeding the army. He has created myriads of Frankenstein monsters, mostly from the Beti tribe, who commit all kinds of mischief and get away with. What is the source of most of the weapons rebels have been using against the Cameroon army in Bakassi?
The very Cameroon Army itself. It is alleged that most of those fighting the Cameroon army in Bakassi are deserters who could not cope with the high degree of injustice perpetrated against them by Biya's over pampered officials.That apart, a high degree of alertness and courage and determination is needed to combat a rebel force. The difference between a regular force and a rebel group is that the former fight with the hope of returning home alive, while a rebel goes to kill or be killed.
Even the Nigeria government with all its military might, had to sign a truce with the MEND rebels. Biya should understand, if he never did, that he is now engaged in a new type of war which even the US, with its sophisticated military machine, is finding it difficult to win. Whereas Cameroon's security forces can yank and bank Chief Ayamba and co., Ebi Dari of the BFF and General AG Basuo of the Niger Delta Defence and Security Council are no walkovers.
Crushing a rebel force is a more formidable exercise than rigging elections. The earlier the regime's spin doctors get into their thick skulls the better for Cameroon. Biya certainly knows the top military personnel involved, but can't touch them because, having compromised the tenets of democracy, he relies on the barrel of the gun to continue lording it over Cameroonians.
Surviving the New Deal Gangsters
To survive from the new generation of gangsters now terrorising the country, Cameroonians should be each other's keeper. The crime is spiralling because Biya thinks the best means of combating it is by training more policemen and gendarmes and not providing jobs for young Cameroonians.
This method has not worked; neither can mob justice because the use of force only helps criminals to steal with more care or arm themselves better ahead of each operation.
Biya should heed the advice of Stanton E. Samenow, who in his book "Inside the Criminal Mind" regrets that prisons, which should have a reformatory role, has become a school for training criminals.
The number of attempted and successful jailbreaks in Douala and Bamenda, respectively, is proof of the fact that our prison system has failed. Biya has failed to learn form history. Let him learn from the Bible. The lesson of love he would gather from there would be far more useful to him than inviting the Pope to Cameroon.
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