Catholic Peace Entity Decries Army’s Hostility Toward Natives in Cameroonian Crisis

“The Fulani have established provision stores from the items looted from the locals of Wum (and) the huge number of motorbikes seized from the indigenes are also used by the Fulanis for commercial and private circulation, with the knowledge of and seemingly full support of the military,” the Priest says in the report. 

Apart from attacking the youth, the military has also been accused of using commercial bike riders as human shields against separatist fighters who often attack army trucks on the Wum-Bamenda highway or detonate Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that have led to many casualties on the side of the military.

“The most concerning report on the human rights violations in Wum is the fact that the military use commercial motorcycle riders transporting persons and goods from Wum to Bamenda and vice versa as human shields,” the Catholic Cleric in Cameroon said. 

In the report, DPHI officials say “the military put their safety above civilian lives whom they are sworn to protect.”

Officials of the Catholic peace entity of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) add that the situation in Wum requires the attention of the international community.

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“Over 40 houses were burnt down recently … leaving over 60 families homeless, stranded and without the basic necessities of life,” DHPI officials say.

Moreover, they add, “the locals have not been able to access their farms for over a year now due to insecurity as the Fulani kidnap and kill them on their way to the farms. The only source of food they are surviving on are the crops around their homes and the military has gone on destroying these.”

Last month, DHPI officials expressed concern about  the government using the Fulanis as “a sub force” in the Anglophone conflict, which started in 2016.

Cameroon’s military has also been blamed for other attacks in the warring parts of the central African nation.

In the November 16 report, DHPI officials cite a recent attack at Saint Elizabeth’s Catholic Hospital Cardiac Centre in the Diocese of Kumbo as one of the ambushes blamed on the military.

Referencing a letter addressed to Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo Diocese and the Divisional officer of the region after the attack, DHPI officials said the military broke into the health facility in search of suspected separatist fighters who were purportedly being treated at the centre.

“The military men, armed to the teeth, came in 3 armored vehicles causing both psychological and physical pain to the patients and staff of the Centre,” Sr. Dr. Anshoma Helen, the Director of the hospital says in the DHPI report.

In a separate incident, military officers reportedly opened fire on members of a cultural dance group in Buea, in the Southwestern part of the country, killing one person and leaving another with severe injuries.

And in yet another attack, a 7-year-old girl, Tataw Brandy, was killed when a police officer opened fire on a fleeing car but missed the target and hit the child. 

Upon realizing that he had missed his target, the police officer who was reportedly asking for a bribe from the driver of the vehicle, ran away. 

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The angry population were pictured in the DHPI report carrying the lifeless body of the little girl and marching from the central part of the town to the Governor’s office, protesting the arbitrary killings of civilians.

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.