Hold-up at Akum; "Coupeurs des Routes" Get Thousands Stranded

Hold-up at Akum; "Coupeurs des Routes" Get Thousands Stranded

Barely days after women of the N.W region of Cameroon rallied on the Bamenda Municipal Stadium to cry for a return to peace, one would've thought their move was the final teaser to prick the powers that be to get down to work. But the recent melee at Mile 7 Akum, Santa Sub Division    has presented the world with a real bigger picture of what Minister Atanga Nji Paul erroneously referred to as a pocket of resistants that shall be crushed by the supposed professional military of Cameroon within the shortest possible time.

Hundreds of cars and thousands of passengers were on Sunday Morning, September 9th 2018 trapped at Mile 8 Akum. It started in the evening of the previous day at about 10pm. Cars had left Bamenda to engage night journeys to other towns only to be stopped at Akum where alleged separatist fighters  staged a showdown.

Passengers Continuing on Foot

Speaking on basis of anonymity, one of the travellers that lived the event said they bumped into the road blockade at about 9pm and saw the alleged separatist fighters in their numbers, well armed with sophisticated weapons. They were asked to personally cut off the part on their IDs having the Green, Red, Yellow flag of Cameroon and many of the passengers did this using their teeth, the only available sharp object. 

She said the fighters after halting traffic flow, collected the phones of many passengers so that they couldn't make any calls, cut off unwanted potions on the IDs of some and deflated the tyres of many cars. The phones were given back in bulk but at the end not all those whose phones were seized got them back. Many passengers were pulled out of the buses and asked to lie flat on their bellies, this at a time when it was raining and places were muddy.

Then they only realised a front head loader was being used to cut off the road at two separate locations. Then about seven buses belonging to Amor Mezam travel agency were shattered after the passengers were pulled out. The engine sections of the burses were burnt. No room was given for them to pull out their valuable items from the buses. The driver of the caterpillar, that happened to be one of the fighters that took the passengers hostage used the heavy duty equipment to shatter the said buses.

Stranded Vehicles

 At the end, the caterpillar too was set ablaze though it didn't burn completely. One person was killed in the incidence.

Travelling in from Douala Saturday night to Bamenda, this reporter got stuck in the cue. Brasseries trucks, Dangote trucks, fuel tankers, seventy seaters (buses) got grounded at Mile 8 Akum for over 3 hours Sunday morning waiting for the military to relink the road for circulation to flow. Curiosity took me out of my bus to find out what was happening. About 20m down the junction to Baba 2, at the foot of a stiff hill, I noticed the aftermaths of the drama that ensued at night. As the attackers carried on their acts, they kept firing in the air. Many passengers got scared and jumped out of their buses. Below the road is a cliff. Panic stricken, in darkness, under heavy rains, they rolled down the cliff like pigs. I saw muddy shoes, headscarf, caps, bags, dresses, mobile phones that fell off in the course of the escape. Several eucalyptus trees and rocks were on the cliff. I'm sure many would've hit their bones against these objects and sustained injuries. 

My informant told me military intervention only came in after the fighters had completed their mission and left. The stranded passengers were escorted by the military back to the agencies in town where they spent the night and only reengaged the journey in the morning. The military came in with other road construction heavy duty equipment in the morning and succeeded to refill the broken potions on the road and that was how traffic flow was reestablished.

Phones Seized from Passenger & Later Dumped

At press time, in a counter move to maintain law and order, the governor of the North West Region, Adolf Lele Lafrique has signed a release prohibiting movement of persons and goods within the region between 6am to 6pm. The release further restricts functioning of bars, off licences, night clubs, circulation of bikes during the stipulated time. Night journey too in and out of the region has been suspended till further notice. The decision has been received with mixed feelings. Many think it's simply making a bad situation worst.