Police exchange fire with Kumba-Mamfe highway robbers

Calm is gradually returning to a part in the Kossala neighbourhood in Fiango- Kumba, after elements of the Equipe D' Intervention Rapid, ESIR, had a gun battle with a gang of thieves on Sunday, November 16.

The gang has been notorious for harassing travellers around the Ikiliwindi stretch of the Kumba-Mamfe Road.

Elements of ESIR are said to have opened fire in reaction to gunshots by the suspect gang. Two of the gangsters reportedly fell into the dragnet of the police while the others fled and are at large.

The Post gathered that the two suspects in police and gendarmerie custody are part of a gang of thieves that went into operation around 7:00pm on Saturday, November 15, along the Ikiliwindi end of the Kumba-Mamfe Road on the outskirts of Kumba.

According to Etien Abba Poro, an element of the ESIR, they got information that the men of the underworld had blocked the road and were robbing travellers, not too far from an area where they were carrying out patrols that night.

Abba explained that news of the operation got to them about 9:00pm when the thieves had operated on the road for hours and, before they could rush to rescue the victims, the suspects had jumped into the bush and crossed a bridge heading towards Kossala.

Thereafter, the uniform officer said, they have been sourcing for information that led them to the hideout of the thieves. In the early hours of Sunday, the security officers set off towards the Kossala area behind the Fiango Market to fish out the suspect.

It was this Sunday operation that sent city dwellers panicking as a result of the gunshots within the neighbourhood.

For now, Abba said two of the suspects are in custody; one at the Kumba Central Police Station and the other at the Buea Road Gendarmerie Brigade. Meantime, an investigation has been opened.

Recounting the story, one of the passengers who refused to be named told The Post that the thieves could not get to them because the rider of the motorbike they were on made a smart turn and entered the bush where other passengers had crept into freedom.

He said some of the thieves were busy firing in the air while others were fleecing passengers.

The hold-up, The Post learnt, involved people who were travelling from Nguti, Konye and other villages to Kumba and beyond.

It should be noted that liquidity is now fluid in localities along this stretch of road, mainly inhabited by cocoa farmers, due to the increase in the price of cocoa in the world market.