Bamenda-Mbengwi, the Last Accessible Motorable Road

Bamenda - Mbengwi, the Last Accessible Motorable Road

Life is becoming harder in the suburbs of Mbengwi. No entry, no exit for cars as separatist fighters have fallen tree trunks with engine saws and cutlasses across the roads. It all started like a joke with one road and today, it's all the roads.

From Wednesday market in Ngyen-Mbo through Kobenyang, Funam, Tudig, there are road blocks. From Ku to Tudig there are road blocks. Interestingly, on this stretch, the very fallers of the trees made provision for a passage for bikes only, by nailing some planks across the trunks.

But the case of Medig and Lower Medig is different. Almost all the villages like Barakwe, Wumnebit, Chenam, Mbemi, Nyen, Njinibi have road blocks with no provision for pedestrians and bikes yet they've been finding their way through by creating their own paths.

In some instances, the fighters cut holes across the road and bury  charms inside. Weeks back, images surfaced on social media of BIR elements clearing the blockades at. Yet hours after they left, like a cat and mouse game, the fighters returned and cut more trees. Reports say they've also been cutting off plank bridges on the roads.

Consequently, access into two sub divisions in Momo by car, that is Njikwa and Ngie has been blocked too because one has to pass through Mbengwi to reach there. However, reports say bikes are finding their way through to these areas especially with animal feed and goods of basic necessity for the remaining inhabitants there. Military helicopters have been hovering over the skies of Mbengwi almost daily.

The locales say in doing so, the fighters tell them it's for their protection. That if the roads are open, the military will come in and kill them, burn their houses. How true such allegations are remain better known to them.

There are government Integrated Health Centres in these areas together with private clinics. How medication now reaches them is pitiful. How emergency cases are now handled especially those that are reffered to Mbengwi, Bamenda and beyond is unimaginable. The stock of basic needs in local stores is getting exhausted even with an increase in prices.

The military too has been dreading descending to such areas because the more they clear the roads, the more the fighters keep blocking. About two weeks ago, images also went viral on social media of how the dead are now  transported for burial in the villages. In the viral images, a coffin is seen being carried across the tree trunks and tied on a truck, then pushed to the deceased compound.

The last accessible road to cars was from Mbengwi through G.R.A to Bessi Fomukong, Sang, Njindom and thereafter. But unfortunately it has been blocked too. Those who flew from gunshots in Mbengwi last weekend  into the bushes may end up being stranded there if care isn't taken.

Parts of the Bome valley have been in darkness because in falling the trees, electric cables were brought down including high tension cables. How ENEO technicians will access these areas for repair works is unknown. When two elephants fight it's the grass that suffers

It's high time both forces are made to understand that if the fight is to have a winner as if it were wrestling or boxing, then it'll drag on for years. Arms battles rarely end with an absolute winner. If the fight is to protect the people, then both parties must sit down and evaluate the distance covered so far in this direction.

At press time, over five fully loaded military trucks with armed to the teeth soldiers are said to have entered Mbengwi, the Momo Divisional headquarters on mission to clear the road blockades. Sources on the ground say they've successfully cleared the Bome-Tudig stretch and Tudig-Zem stretch. Shockingly houses are reported to have been burnt in Njinibi, Mbemi and other villages were the military operations are ongoing. Two nurses, a husband and wife, working with the Integrated Health Centres of Kob and Njah-Etu plus a young boy in Nyen popularly known as Daddy Boy are reported to have been killed.

• The populations of these hot zones have deserted their homes for the bushes.