By CHRDA*
On Wednesday, 22nd of April 2020, the state Defense and
Security Forces conducted an offensive operation in the village of Muambong,
situated in Bangem, Kupe-Muaneguba Division of the SW Region.
This operation dubbed the “the maintenance of order operation”
saw the gruesome execution of six (6) unarmed young men, four of which are
ex-combatants who have laid down their arms since 2019. These boys were
executed with the use of a knife, and an ax seized from one of the inhabitants
of the village while splitting firewood at about 6 a.m.
To document this case, CHRDA interviewed more than 10
eyewitnesses and victims who gave corroborative testimonies and details of the
incidence, amateur images were also analyzed. The soldiers attacked the village
at about 2 a.m., to dismantle a separatist camp which existed there before
2019, but the camp has been deserted as most of the fighters had laid down
their arms in that village. Failing to meet the armed separatist fighters, they
waited till about 6 a.m. before beginning the process of arresting the 6 young
men, most of whom were removed from their homes and killed before their
relatives, except for one who was captured while returning from hunting
overnight in the bush. He was killed and the game he caught taken away.
The names of these boys killed include inter alia: 1. Epie
Thiery, 2. Ebong Blaise, 3. Ngole Justice, 4. Nzime Lawrence Mesumbe, 5. Sone
Desmond Muabe and 6. Nsime Peter. They were executed and carried on the
military truck and dumped along the road as they drove out of the village.
In the same operation, shops were also looted by the military
and huge sums of money extorted from the locals. Several persons were also
tortured to near-death including an old man in his 60s called Pa Ngime… (Not
his real name) and Ngole… (Not his real name) who is currently unconscious at
the time of this report.
While talking to CHRDA, an 18-year-old boy, a victim of the
attack recounted: “… I am a student of College Bilingue…. because schools were
closed as a measure put in place by the government to prevent the spread of
COVID-19, I came to the village to help my parents in the farm, that faithful
morning, I got up at about 5:00 a.m and was filing my machete to go to the
farm. Suddenly I was surrounded by soldiers with guns.
They ask me to raise my
hands or they will shoot me. They were about 45 in number as I counted. They
beat me up and took me to their truck where I met about 15 other young men
arrested. They entered my room and took 21, 000FRS which belong to me, and
45,000FRS which belong to my brother who had already gone to the farm before
the military arrived.
They drove around with us in the truck, breaking into
people’s homes and beating them up. They also had a list in their hand with the
names of people they wanted to kill, as they reached the market square, they
brook into people’s shops and stole in one shop, a musical set containing an
amplifier, speakers, and woofer. In another shop, they stole 16 crakes of beer
and other soft drinks.
They also took away 75, 000 FRS from the store, and in
one garage, they took away a box of spanners and loaded into their truck. They
brought us down from the truck to create a chance to load the items they have
stolen. They also kick us with their boats before letting us go.
People whom money was extorted from include among others:
1.Enongene, (not his real name) lost the sum of thirty thousand francs (30,000
FRS), 2. Nzumbe (not his real name) lost thirty thousand francs (30,000 FRS),
3. Nzume (not his real name) lost twenty-five thousand francs (25, 000FRS), and
4. Epeme (not her real name) lost three thousand five hundred francs (3,500
FRS). Before executing Epie Thiery, a sum of eighty thousand francs (80,000FRS)
was taken from him to be freed but he was still killed.
This incident forced the inhabitants of the village of
Muambong to flee into the bushes and have remained there since the 22nd of
April. While talking to CHRDA, the inhabitant of this village recounted that
they had previously been alerted that the military was planning an invasion of
the village because of the existence of separatist fighters in the area,
however, the elders of the community send a delegation which made with the
Senior Divisional Officer for Kupe-Muanenguba Division in Bangem to inform him
that it is needless sending the military to Muanmbong because all the non-state
actors who use to cause trouble in the community have laid down their arms and
their camp has been deserted since 2019. They were shocked that after this
dialogue with the SDO, soldiers were still sent to wreak havoc on the innocent
people of Muambong.
The testimony of these people is corroborated by a press
release, published by the SDO, Mr. Tchakui Noundie Jean-Marie on the same day
the attack took place, acknowledging the operation carried out by the military
in the said village in what he calls the first phase of operation for the
maintenance of order in Muambong and also reiterated that there are subsequent
operations underway if the population fails to come out from the bush.
CHRDA is stunned by these killings, torture, and extortion
committed by the military against the civilian population and the outing of the
SDO, promising more havoc on the population if they fail to come out from the
bush. We, therefore, condemn these atrocious acts committed against the
civilian population in the strongest possible terms as they go in sharp
contrast with the principles of international human rights and international
humanitarian law. Such acts committed by state agents barely 24 hours after the
acknowledgment of the massacre in Ngarbuh make the acknowledgment worthless in
the eyes of many.
Still, in line with gruesome murders, CHRDA has received a
video making rounds on social media, depicting a young man whose head has been
decapitated and hung on a stick along the road in Mambu, Bafut Village in the
North West Region. We also learned that this young man by name Awah, an unarmed
civilian was brought out from his house and executed. Two other persons were
killed in the same attack by the military in that village.
We, therefore, call for, an immediate halt of the killings in
Muambong and elsewhere, the commencement of investigation and subsequent trial
of the soldiers guilty of murdering unarmed civilians and ex-fighters who have
laid down their arms as well as torture and extortion of money from the
population at gunpoint.
We equally recommend a ceasefire and possible dialogue with
all parties to the conflict to find a lasting solution to the crisis especially
during this period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
*CHRDA is the Center
for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (Link:https://www.chrda.org/chrda-strongly-condemn-the-killing-of-unarmed-civilians-in-muambong-village-southwest-region-by-cameroon-defense-and-security-forces)
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