Boko Haram militants
Four civilians were killed yesterday night respectively in the villages of Gouzoudoum (Kolofata) and Kaldjiwa (Mora) in the Far North region of Cameroon following two raids by Boko Haram insurgents.
The terrorists looted Shops and took away motorcycles belonging to villagers.
Cameroon has recently been handing out motorbikes and bicycles to vigilante groups in these affected areas to monitor its porous northern border with Nigeria. It hopes the youths can track down suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers.
About 50 vigilantes sing and dance to local war songs as they prepare to venture into Cameroon's northern frontline with Boko Haram. They know the terrain to their finger tips and are capable of outmaneuvering the insurgents.
They wield different versions of handmade machetes, a few Kalashnikovs and anything they could use to scare off the Islamists. Since their inception, they have had some amount of success fending off an already weakened Boko Haram.
By giving the vigilantes motorbikes and bicycles, Midjiyawa Bakari, who is the Governor of Cameroon's Far North region, told DW that he hopes they can "track down unwanted visitors."
"After a long period of time spent encouraging people to contribute to the fight against Boko Haram, the inhabitants of villages bordering Nigeria have been joining these self-defense groups in large numbers," Bakari said.
"Those members that died protecting Cameroon did not lay down their lives in vain. Their country will always remember and honor them," he added.
