By Wilson Musa
Some Six individuals, including the Divisional Officer (DO) of Bamenda II, Nkongho Manchang, were abducted while traveling to Nkambe. The incident occurred in Tuesday February 6, 2024, in Ntumbaw, Ndu subdivision in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, a region already grappling with security challenges due to separatist activities.
The convoy, which included the Divisional Officer of Bamenda II and five others, was en route to Nkambe, to take part in the installation ceremony of a new SDO, when they were intercepted by unidentified assailants.
The perpetrators, believed to be associated with separatist groups, forcefully abducted the individuals.
A security source told CNA that they only discovered the D.Os car abandoned on the road with no sign of him. The identities of the other victims besides the Divisional Officer have not been disclosed yet.
The motive behind the kidnapping remains unclear, though such incidents often involve demands for ransom or political leverage. He is the second
civil administrator to be kidnapped in the North West region since the crisis started in 2016.
The first was the former DO of Batibo subdivision, Namata Marcel, who was kidnapped by separatist fighters on February 11, 2018. He was later killed in captivity.
Local authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, working to identify and apprehend the perpetrators.
This kidnapping adds to the ongoing security challenges in the Northwest Region, where separatist groups have been active for years, leading to clashes with security forces and causing displacement among civilians.
What happened?
The Governor of North West region Adolphe Lele had just installed the SDO of Boyo where he was transported via an helicopter.
While the governor was installing the SDO of Boyo, the helicopter took the others to Donga against tomorrow. So the helicopter came back with the governor Tuesday evening to fly to Donga tomorrow morning. Having no space to fly with the Governor, the DO who had also served in Belo, d
ecided to take the road to Nkambe central subdivision without security.
The SDO who was to be installed tomorrow is Gorges Malgloire Bassilekin, formerly secretary general at the North West Governor’s office who was recently promoted.
It’s suspected that the DO of Bamenda II, Nicolas Nkongho Manchang who has previously served in Donga Mantung as Assistant 1 wanted to extend his relationship ties with the SDO whom they have been together in Bamenda for about 4 years.
Source: Cameroon News Agency
Members Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ESCR-Net members, Endorois, and Ogiek communities held a peaceful procession to seek justice for their seized lands and torched houses from the Attorney General.
The two communities and the ESCR-Net members intended to deliver a call-to-action letter to the Attorney General’s office demanding the government to immediately implement the Commission and Court rulings to ensure justice and reparations for the communities. Hence, the communities have been protesting government neglect and forced evictions from their ancestral lands, demanding the fulfillment of promises made to them.
The Ogiek and Endorois community is awaiting plans from the Attorney General to address the ongoing protests due to recent house burnings and slow court proceedings.
Further, through its representative, the Ogiek community noted that the National Land Commission, in a visit to their land, promised to address the contentious issues but are currently disappointed to learn that the communit
y has been accused of living in and destroying the Mau forest, allegations they vehemently deny.
The communities also cited the issue of carbon grading which they suspect could be the underlying motivation for the forceful eviction and therefore, appealed to the government to sensitize everyone involved for better understanding through information, awareness, education, and training as it relates to carbon grading.
They added that their people lack basic facilities such as schools and hospitals where the former have been burnt down and the latter devoid of amenities and specialists needed to effectively take care of members of the communities. A representative from Sheria House assured the group that their issues would be promptly addressed.
Source: Kenya News Agency