My visit to BOYO: an affected war zone
I took to Fundong, capital of boyo last Wednesday, July 18, 2018 n could not reach home same day because of a 3-day ghost town.
On arriving mobile nkwen, cars could only reach Mbingo that morning. This made me to postpone my journey next day, Thursday. Given that roads to fundong, were still blocked, we boarded a taxi for Njinikom at cost of 2000 FRS per person (distance normally costs ~ 1300)
We took off and had first check by military at bambui as usual n it was same ritual of ID checking. The scenario started changing when we drove in to Boyo. From mbingo to belo one could notice something is wrong somewhere. Along the road, all we could see were burnt cars and bikes, then, houses. Getting to belo was like entering into a grave yard at 12am; military armed to teeth in groups at belo 3corners and some using balconies of deserted homes to position their guns, ready to shoot. Here, thorough checking was done from ID cards to pockets and bodies(u lift up your dresses and they check what others said is the mark of "ambazonia fighters"). The bigger ordeal was between the military and drivers who have to take down all their luggage and expose all contents for examination. Sad was a narration by our driver who was questioned on a wed pad found in a female passenger's bag.
The first stray animal I found was a dog which was limping and just where the military does the checks, another was laying dead. All shops closed, maize ready in farms and no harvesting is done. Then, we came to Njinikom and the military there checked ID cards and content of android phones.
Here, a suspect was asked to dial the lastly contacted person in his list so that they follow their conversation...
What i read from my stay in Boyo
first thing i learned is that fear has gripped many. They fear the military for what some termed brutality and inhuman treatment of those found on their way. This, they supported with the killing of a women at Belo in her 60s and one in Fundong, a young man at Boyui who was sitting with a child in his compound and many other brutal killings abound.
They are also afraid of secessionist fighters who they say give no room for those who betray them. As i gathered, secessionists have two groups of enemies; the military and those they call sellouts.
Going closer, i discovered the military is trying to be friendly with the people but things get worst when there is crossfire between the two groups. Here, any civilian closer or in the vicinity can be a victim.
lessons to learn
In order to reduce the death toll;
people are advised to stay home when there is just a sign of confrontation,
Stay away from public places when not having an urgent task
Awoh Caleb Ndazua (ACN) in Belo, NWR of Cameroon
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| First stop at Belo |
On arriving mobile nkwen, cars could only reach Mbingo that morning. This made me to postpone my journey next day, Thursday. Given that roads to fundong, were still blocked, we boarded a taxi for Njinikom at cost of 2000 FRS per person (distance normally costs ~ 1300)
We took off and had first check by military at bambui as usual n it was same ritual of ID checking. The scenario started changing when we drove in to Boyo. From mbingo to belo one could notice something is wrong somewhere. Along the road, all we could see were burnt cars and bikes, then, houses. Getting to belo was like entering into a grave yard at 12am; military armed to teeth in groups at belo 3corners and some using balconies of deserted homes to position their guns, ready to shoot. Here, thorough checking was done from ID cards to pockets and bodies(u lift up your dresses and they check what others said is the mark of "ambazonia fighters"). The bigger ordeal was between the military and drivers who have to take down all their luggage and expose all contents for examination. Sad was a narration by our driver who was questioned on a wed pad found in a female passenger's bag.
"You are forced to open it until they see what they want," he said.Another thing that marked me in belo is that entrances grow grasses and only few stray animals feed from plantains that seemed to have been packed for transportation to B'da.
The first stray animal I found was a dog which was limping and just where the military does the checks, another was laying dead. All shops closed, maize ready in farms and no harvesting is done. Then, we came to Njinikom and the military there checked ID cards and content of android phones.
Here, a suspect was asked to dial the lastly contacted person in his list so that they follow their conversation...
What i read from my stay in Boyo
first thing i learned is that fear has gripped many. They fear the military for what some termed brutality and inhuman treatment of those found on their way. This, they supported with the killing of a women at Belo in her 60s and one in Fundong, a young man at Boyui who was sitting with a child in his compound and many other brutal killings abound.
They are also afraid of secessionist fighters who they say give no room for those who betray them. As i gathered, secessionists have two groups of enemies; the military and those they call sellouts.
Going closer, i discovered the military is trying to be friendly with the people but things get worst when there is crossfire between the two groups. Here, any civilian closer or in the vicinity can be a victim.
lessons to learn
In order to reduce the death toll;
people are advised to stay home when there is just a sign of confrontation,
Stay away from public places when not having an urgent task
Awoh Caleb Ndazua (ACN) in Belo, NWR of Cameroon
Comments
Thanks for the update on our region. Happy you didn't get entangled