When peace defenders turn cold-blooded killers

At 3:00 a.m on Sunday, January 24, 2016, a soldier stabbed and killed a commercial motorcyclist in the Northwest Regional town of Wum in Menchum Division.

The solider, whose name we got as Chef Alpha, killed Leonard Mih Ngong after an argument between the two men. Apparently, they both befriended the same woman. Soon after the death of Mih Ngong, the population of Wum lost their cool, stormed and burnt down the military camp plus two military trucks.

The administration later declared a state of emergency in Wum, which was enforced by a hovering military helicopter. Movements of persons were restricted and more army reinforcements arrived from Bamenda. The Wum population was so enraged that even the visit of Northwest Governor, Adolphe Lele L’Afrique, did little to calm down tempers.

This prompted the Supreme Commander of Cameroon’s Armed Forces, President Biya,to dispatch the Minister Delegate at the Presidency of the Republic in charge of Defence, Joseph Beti Assomo and the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, to Wum on January 27, 2016 to evaluate the crisis that rocked the Aghem community.

Not too long ago, news emanated from Mbalmayo that a gendarmerie officer shot and killed a colleague before committing suicide. Late last year, there were upheavals in the Far North where the population burnt a military camp following the killing of a local. Recently, reports went viral of another military man who shot an officer near a bar at night in Garoua.