It is a particularly turbulent day that the district of Mbouda this November 23, 2023. “ The Ambazonians are already at Bagam, and are descending towards Mbouda», « That no one undertakes the trip to the village this weekend», « It is said that the Ambazonians have already infiltrated the village»,… These are messages which circulated on social networks and peddled through “radio-trottoir” in the arteries of Bamessingué, Bamougong, Babété, Bamendjinda, Bafounda, villages and groups of the district of Mbouda; but also in the vast district of Babadjou. It is therefore a good part of the Bamboutos department which will have received the “alert” reporting the presence of fighters who claim to be from the virtual State ofAmbazonie neighbor of this department of the West region.
The consequence is the desertion of schools by students, deaf to calls for calm from those in charge of the various establishments and even administrative authorities. “ As I speak to you, my older sister has just informed me that at her house, the children came back from school in a hurry, everyone returned home and they are all locked in the houses», informs Monique, national Bamessingué residing in Bamenda. This lady is calling on her people across the republic to dissuade them from traveling to the village this weekend. “ They say they asked that everyone stay at home, that they don’t want to see anyone outside at night“, she insists. No way to discourage this elder from a great concession, convinced of the veracity of the information which awakened the populations. In any case, ” if you do not believe in lies, you will not believe in the truth; it is better to take this threat seriously“, she philosophizes.
The efforts of the authorities, supported by elites called upon to “behave” or who took part in the game of maintaining order and peace through awareness-raising, to curb the panic, will obviously have had no effect. ‘effect. School was dead, businesses were slowing down. For information taken seriously, without anyone testifying to having experienced an attack scene.
This information, which came out of nowhere, comes the day after the massacre of Bamenyam, a village in the neighboring district of We can. An incursion by “Ambazonian” secessionists left nine dead, according to official sources. And since Tuesday November 21, 2023, the date of this attack, sources have announced the advance of the killers dressed in the uniform of national defense and security forces, towards the town of Mbouda. Which would imply that villages like Bamessingué, Babadjou, Bamendjinda, etc. would be the first targets of these insurgent forces. Hence the fever which has gripped the department. Finally night fell earlier than expected in this crossroads town between Bafoussam and Bamenda. And could be white for many.
