Kossa Township in the district of Mora is one of the places that has a large number of Nigerian refugees.
They have found shelter in Cameroon as a result of the proliferation of abuses by the Islamic sect Boko Haram in the north-eastern Nigeria. In their belongings, many of them brought animals consisting primarily of cattle and goats.
According to officials of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (Iucn), more than 4,000 cattle have invaded the buffer zone of Waza National Park. In addition, within 500 meters of the protected area, they now spotted a number of new villages created by the Nigerian refugees with lawans who were forced to flee their country.
These are Guaouri with lawan Hourso, Gawa where Djaouro Ibrahim Bara leads the Abdoulaye Djaouro throne, the town led by Bederi Djaouro Mamoudo, the town led by Dandaya Blama Ngoubdo, Messsere led by Goni, Yeme led by Issaga Amissy and LeVillage Farka led by Mal Tijani.
When asked, the refugees say they were there for more than six months. These groups existed only since their arrival and are made up on average of 10 to 30 units. According to testimonies collected on the site, other groups could be created in the coming weeks.
The leaders of these groups say they have been endorsed by the traditional authorities to settle. John David Ndjigba, Regional Delegate of Forestry and Wildlife conducted a late September mission to the site of the park to assess the situation.
During the field visit, it appeared that "uncontrolled transhumance and the influx of refugees around the park in violation of forest regulations and wildlife in force may affect the natural resources in the very near future." Local authorities are already seeing degradation of forest resources due to overgrazing.
Extensive planting of food crops have already began in the peripheral areas of the park. For now, the great centers of threats have so far been the northwestern sector and the east and northeast of the Waza National Park areas all located in the canton of Kossa 27 km from Mora.
The district chief, his majesty Matti, 95, seems powerless against the onslaught of foreigners. He delegated responsibility to his eldest son, who is accused by the people of being bribed by foreign shepherds.
