The Scale News Africa, Mile 4 Nkwen, Bamenda (2024)

20/01/2024

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24/02/2022

13/02/2022

Maybe it's time armed separatist fighters and leaders become more conscious and more intentional about child protection in the face of the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon. Children should not be given guns. Anyone below 18 is a child give them pens not guns. It is a war crime to recruit children for any activities for armed groups in a crisis.

Armed groups in Cameroon’s conflict regions should respect international protocols against the use of child soldiers
By Sah Terence Animbom

On Red Hand Day or the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers, February 12 each year since 2002, pleas are made to political leaders and events are staged around the world to draw attention to child soldiers discouraging the use of children under the age of 18 who participate in military organizations of all kinds.

The Paris Principles of 2007 define a child associated with an armed force or group as: ...any person below 18 years of age who is or who has been recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes. The document is approved by the United Nations General Assembly. It does not only refer to a child who is taking or has taken a direct part in hostilities.

February 12th is the International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers. Around the world, children are associated with, and used during, armed conflict with devastating effects on both the child and society. Many armed groups specifically recruit or capture children because they are easy to physically and mentally control.

Cameroon’s anglophone crisis has seen the recruitment of child soldiers by non-state armed groups, keeping them out of school and completely radicalizing them. The Red Hand Day thus comes as a reminder to armed groups that the use of child soldiers is a serious war crime and must not be indulged. Armed separatist groups are thus encouraged to respect international protocols protecting children against such practices.

The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, a series of rules that apply in armed conflict, provide special protections to shield children from the effects of war. For example, Additional Protocol I and II and the Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibit children under the age of 15 from being recruited into armed forces or armed groups. The Geneva Conventions also protect children under 15 by providing them special protection.

It is a war crime under international law to enlist, conscript, or use children under 15 actively in hostilities, whether it is in a conflict between states, or between armed groups and/or state forces.

UNICEF
Plan International Cameroon
UN Volunteers
United Nations
UNFPA
Community Solutions Program
Community Solutions Program Fellows and Alumni Group

18/11/2021

BBC's Randy Joe Sa'ah has a way of telling the story. His way of painting the story makes him a journalism model to emulate. Have a good listen.

A Kampala resident tells how the bomb blasts affected her job and her mind

16/10/2021

Senator Kemende Henry Writes a thought provoking piece on the killing of little Carol Enongene in Buea by a gendarme officer.

MVOGO Achille Vs. Carolaise ENONGENE: A CALL FOR RESTRAINT.

The people of the troubled Regions of the SOUTH WEST and NORTH WEST in particular and Cameroon at large, have once more been gripped by shock at the gruesome death of a toddler, Caroline ENONGENE and later, Achille MVOGO, a Gendarme Officer in consequence thereof. As an Anglophone politician, I feel particularly touched, having regard to the inherited English culture that I share with that toddler and her family and the calamities that community is going through (as a result of the failure to understand them) since the crisis started. On the other hand, I feel sorry for a young Gendarme Officer who died in trauma, having probably learned too late that the inherited French culture of "the fear of the Gendarme is the beginning of wisdom" had long failed and can't be sustained under the present day dispensations. Sociology teaches us that the witnessed action (shooting of little Caro) and reaction (lynching of young MVOGO) is normal when human emotions overtake reason. As an Anglophone politician, it's suicidal condemning the reaction of the people. On the other hand as a lawyer, I'm duty-bound to condemn mob justice, for "jungle justice" makes a lawyer irrelevant.
Be that as it may, the action and reaction have both been conclusive in effect and could differently be interpreted with ample justifications, depending on which side of the coin we find ourselves.
My humble piece of advice is therefore tilted towards the Govt, who from every indication, may continue the ping-pong exercise of action and reaction or mussle-flexing. In the absence of young Gendarme MVOGO, the killer of little Caro, we are left with the perpetrators of mob justice on the later. As punishable as the reaction of the population might have been, it is politically counter-productive to all the time propagate collective punishment against your own people. It shows lack of understanding of the very people who are the source of your power. I'm afraid of where such a trend shall end.
PLEASE, GOVT, LET GO THE CHARGE AGAINST THE PERPETRATORS OF MOB JUSTICE AGAINST MVOGO. It's counter-productive. Letting it go is a way of creating the much needed enabling environment for peace. After all, peace has got no price.

Senator/Barrister KEMENDE Henry GAMSEY.

19/02/2021

Now this is what I am talking about. Coming out of their shells. Khayi Loveline is the smartest Chubby Lady I have known. She has vehemently refused to allow her life be defined by her size. I am particularly proud of her as she is the lone Chubby Lady in the Face of Fame Cameroon 2021.

1000 XAF each can get her 10 votes to let her bring home this prize.

She is a voice coming out loud to tell all that they can be part of whatever they choose. All sizes are beautiful in diverse ways.

With you all the way LOVE..

Face of FameCameroon, Vote for Khayi Loveline to win the final stage.
voting cost
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N100/Vote -Nigeria
$1/vote -International

Vote via MTN mobile money, Orange money, direct company account or internationally via SWIFT CODE
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10/05/2020

Epileptic patients in North West Stranded, some dead within a month as drug runs out of stock

By Sah Terence Animbom

The oldest drug that has been used for the treatment of epilepsy, Phenobarbital sometimes referred to as Phenobarbitone or simply Phenobarb has been out of stock in pharmacies and health units in the North West Region for over two months now, leaving epileptic patients stranded as their convulsions have increased, greatly diminishing their health.

A Medical Doctor who spoke to The SUN Newspaper on bases of anonymity for fear of the intimidation from hierarchy revealed that she has so far lost two patients in her health unit due to the absence of this drug that has remained the most recommended option for the treatment of epilepsy in the last 108 years.

“These are patients who have been on this drug for a greater part of their lives and just because we have been unable to get the drug even after requesting from the North West Special fund for health which is in charge of furnishing hospitals in the region with drugs, their health conditions deteriorated greatly and today they are no more. I am told one convulsed when there was no one at home and was only found dead. I currently know about twenty of these patients that have often come to consult and who are now really fighting hard to remain stable” The Doctor said.

Mbu, a 57 year old woman in Fundong Boyo Division who became epileptic between 1983 and 1984 and started treatment on the said Phenobarbital about 5years later from whence she has been on the treatment, taking a recommended dose of 100miligrams a day till two months ago when the drug seemingly went out of stock is currently battling with her health, having very frequent convulsions that take up all her energy and leave her helpless. The frequent convulsions have given way to a high fever that is currently taking the most of her added to the convulsions that have only but increased as days pass by.

The SUN spoke to one of Helen’s children, who described to pain his mother goes through each time she has a convulsion. “My mother has had thousands of convulsions since she had this terrible disease. She lost her arm about 37 years ago after she had a convulsion and went unconscious, falling into the fire with a baby in her arms. It was the cry of the baby that saved her from burning to death because the baby too burnt his hand as all her right arm was burnt. Today she has just one arm and has been one this drug for more than 30 years. These are not the kind of drugs that government should play with. They must always be available to save lives and health.” Helen’s son said.

Zeid Yasiry and Simon D. Shorvon in a research document published in 2012 tittled “How Phenobarbital revolutionized epilepsy therapy: The story of Phenobarbital therapy in epilepsy in the last 100 years, give an indepth insight to the drug that makes it an outstanding drug, one that has been around for the same treatment for more than a century.
Part of the document reads, “Phenobarbital (phenobarbitone) was ﬁrst used as an antiepileptic drug 100 years ago, in 1912. This article tells the story of the discovery of its antiepileptic action, its early development, and the subsequent course of its clinical use over the 100-year period. The side effects, pharmacokinetics, and misuse of barbiturates are considered, along with the more recent clinical trials and the drug’s current clinical utilization.

The introduction of controlled drug regulations, the comparative cost of phenobarbital, and its inclusion on the World Health Organization (WHO) essential drug list are discussed. It is one of the few drugs on the formulary in 1912 that is still listed today, and remarkably its efﬁcacy in epilepsy has not been signiﬁcantly bettered. The current recommendation by the WHO is that Phenobarbital should be offered as the ﬁrst option for therapy for convulsive epilepsy in adults and children if availability can be ensured. This is rated as a strong recommendation because of the proven efﬁcacy and low cost of Phenobarbital.

08/05/2020

CAMASEJ National Donates PPE to NW Chapter

The national bureau of the Cameroon Association of English speaking journalists (CAMASEJ) has donated personal protective equipment to protect journalists against COVID-19 kits to the NW chapter of the association.

Presenting them on May 8th 2020 during the CAMASEJ NW monthly meeting at Blue Pearl hotel, the national secretary general, Wanchia Cynthia and public relations officer, Jato Richard disclosed that the items were secured through a deal with Orange Cameroon. The duo also extended a congratulatory message from the national president, Viban Jude to the chapter for all its contribution to the growth of the profession.

While reviewing the items, CAMASEJ NW president Ambe Macmillian, appreciated the gesture which he says, has reawakened hope on members who were hitherto skeptical about the output of the national bureau. Present at the handing over ceremony was also Tayong Fah Elvis, one of the auditors of CAMASEJ National.

Based on the membership of the NW chapter of the association, the items donated were 3 hand wash buckets, 3 litres of liquid soap, 70 face masks and 70 hand sanitisers. Members were called upon to put the items into proper use so that non falls prey to COVID-19.

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23/02/2020

Nsom Killian in the artistic name N'som No hitherto known as Killy Black hits the air waves with his new and very first single titled Ikong meaning LOVE. He is an amazing talent, a guitarist and vocalist who masters true ancestral music and values. He sings soul refining songs that set the souls of men on fire and retrospection. Watch, like and share plus subscribe to give him a PUSH......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OWt-SLovMY

Reinventing himself under the N’SOM-NO moniker, his debut single IKONG is both a celebration of the simple pleasures of daily life and an exploration of the ...

22/02/2020

N'som No comes out Saturday February 22, 2020 with the official video release of "Ikong" Love... The one artist whose songs are full of ancestral inspiration that is expressed in incredible talent that flows in a well endowed voice with a kind of spurs opening sensation. Please flow this link to accustom yourselves with the lyrics before we start dancing to the steps in the official video today. Trust me it is the one song you don't wanna be left behind in.

"Baby give me cut-back"...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx9AqGZ8dfs

12/02/2020

Feb 9 POOLS, SDF WINS ONE CONSTITUENCY, MAY RETAIN ONLY ONE COUNCIL IN ENTIRE NORTH WEST

By Sah Terence Animbom

The Social Democratic Front party SDF may retain only Bamenda 3 council out of a total of 34 councils in the entire North West Region, following the February 9, 2020 twin elections.

This comes after news went out early Monday morning that the SDF had won both Bamenda 2 and Bamenda 3 councils. It would appear the local pooling commission for Bamenda 2 met and decided to cancel the results of one of the pooling stations on grounds that the report sheets did not contain counting sheets.

Senator Mochigle of the SDF has described the move as a ploy by the regime to rip SDF of the possibility of picking up the position of City Mayor in the new City Council setup that may go functional in the months ahead. "It was well planned to be cancelled because CRTV started reporting that the CPDM has won Bamenda 2 council even before the local pooling commission met for deliberations." He said.

Hon Njong Evaristus one of the two MPs that the SDF will retain at the National Assembly from the North West says "the commission cannot punish the SDF for an error that was committed by ELECAM. Did ELECAM effectively train the poling chairpersons? Bamenda 2 is for the SDF." He reiterated.

The SDF now hopes only on the administrative court for the final verdict of the situation in Bamenda 2 council.

In the legislative elections, they have retained only the Boyo Constituency thus taking only two parliamentary seats in the entire region.

Some of the councils they have lost to the CPDM are Njinikom, Belo, Ndu, Kumbo, Tubah, Batibo, among others.

30/01/2020

https://the-scale-news-africa.blogspot.com/2020/01/gidicom-challenges-online-users-to.html

29/10/2019

We are pleased to announce to you the official launch of the FOAM Community Development Awards 2019 Edition. Nominations are open from October 25, 2019 to November 29, 2019.

Send nominations to [email protected] between Oct 25, and Nov 29, 2019

In its maiden edition, FOAM Awards scouts and recognizes innovation and community change drivers, in the general hope of contributing to information for transformational change, within a more positive indigenous African Leadership perspective. Every year, a watchdog team decides on an area of interest for recognition, based on socio-economic circumstances, and in some categories, opens up for votes under the supervision of an independent and professional jury. Our honorary awards for this edition takes interest in the domains of community development, Industrial/work place safety, Social Corporate Responsibility performance, and small downstream job creation among others. Very important to note, we will not leave out the woman or man on the street that feeds many hungry Cameroonians from just the frying and selling of "Puff Puff". We believe that everyone has an important role in the development of the Community.

26/09/2019

https://the-scale-news-africa.blogspot.com/2019/06/muslim-cultural-displays-where.html

Muslim cultural displays, where government exercises cultural tolerance in a crisis situation By Sah Terence Animbom ...

19/08/2019

International humanitarian day celebration, Plan Cameroon UNOCHA battle with GZ challenges

By Ndashi Kemayi M.

Commemorating the International Humanitarian Day in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon last Saturday August 17 2019, specialized United Nations Agencies and their partners ranging from local civil society organizations to international Non Governmental Organizations converged at the multipurpose hall of the Mankon metropolitan Cathedral to celebrate women humanitarians as this year’s theme indicates.

Celebrated at a time when the English speaking regions of the country are currently going through a humanitarian crisis that has been termed the fastest growing humanitarian crisis in Africa by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance UNOCHA in 2018, Civil society organizations working in humanitarian concerns came out to showcase to the public and the United Nations what they have been doing.

To read the rest of the story, click on the link below..

https://the-scale-news-africa.blogspot.com/2019/08/international-humanitarian-day.html

International humanitarian day celebration, Plan Cameroon UNOCHA battle with GZ challenges By Ndashi Kemayi Meroline Commemorating ...

04/08/2019

The Boyo War Zone Scenario; Amba clashes against Amba over weapons

- - Belo Amba Boys kidnaps 12 passengers from Fundong in retaliation, release them after a week
- - Belo Amba Clashes with Fundong Amba over confiscated AK 47s

By Sah Terence Animbom

There has been a recent feud among the Ambazonian restoration fighters in Boyo division that has brought about a very tensed atmosphere and placed the military in Fundong on a well deserved and jubilatory break. The restoration fighters camp in Fundong is not in working terms with the camps of Njinikom and Belo and even the civilian population which has caused a lot of negative talk about the Fundong Amba Boys.

The Scale News Africa reporter took a trip to Boyo division to ascertain the state of the kidnapped hostages and to understand the cause of the feud among the fighters.

12 passengers from Fundong kidnapped

Contrary to social media reports claiming that over 30 passengers from Fundong were kidnapped by Amba Boys in Belo on Tuesday July 16, 2019, The Scale News Africa went digging and found out that a convoy of three passenger cars from Fundong and one from Njinikom transporting 15 persons including the drivers was intercepted by Ambazonian fighters at Sho village in Belo at about 9:00 am that day. The said cars were heading to Bamenda when they were intercepted and diverted towards Acha road in Belo and taken about 8 kilo meters into the interior.

Prior to diverting the cars, three of the passengers; young ladies were set free on the spot thus taking only 12 passengers hostage and leading them to one of the most dreaded Amba camps in Belo. “While they were leading us to the camp, we heard heavy gunshots from a distance coming from a military convoy that seemed to be approaching us. They immediately told us to branch into Achah road so as to avoid being caught in their cross fire. They however

To read the full story, click on the link below

https://the-scale-news-africa.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-boyo-war-zone-scenario-amba-clashes.html

The Boyo War Zone Scenario; Amba clashes against Amba over weapons - - Belo Amba Boys kidnaps 12 passengers from Fundong in retal...

08/07/2019

They Killed her and shot her kid sister after they answered "Yes we are anglophones"

Two sisters shot in Bamenda after they innocently answer “we are anglophones”
By Sah Terence Animbom
This is how Fru Carine, 24, a nurse formerly working with Abii Clinic in Ngomgham Bamenda and Fru Melisa, 16 all children of Fru Christopher the North West Regional President for Bike Riders Union were brutally shot three times each on exactly the same positions by uniform men in their Ngomgham residence on Thursday July 4, 2019 at about 12:30 pm after they innocently answered “Yes we are anglophones” to some heavily armed men in uniform. Carine died on the spot while Melisa was taken to the Hospital three hours later and is responding to treatment at press time, contrary to social media reports that she is dead.
It was driving towards noon that Thursday when some Amba boys stormed the residence of a military officer whose name The Scale News Africa is yet to confirm, somewhere behind the former council at the Ngomgham neighborhood. They shot and killed the said military officer and escaped into the bushes after Sacred Heart College Mankon, leaving the helpless population at the mercy of angry military officers instead of staying to fight for them or defend them.
An inhabitant who was packing some of his necessary items like a mattress, some wood for cooking as well as some food and clothes to leave the locality as many others had done when The Scale News Africa’s reporter arrived the scene of the incident said "We were home when we heard a very loud sound which I can't say it was the sound of a gun because it sounded more like a Bomb. Some neighbors ran to my house telling me there was a co**se lying just some meters away from my house here. They said the Amba boys had shot and killed a military man who was leaving in an apartment just in the next compound. Everyone started running away from the quarter and I ran into my house with my family and we stayed quiet until at about 1 pm or so, when the military arrived and met their colleague in his own pool of blood. The next thing we heard were heavy gunshots and military breaking into these houses, (pointing at the door where Carine and kid sister stayed with their Family) we heard Carine crying and begging that they did not know anything and that they should not shoot them. as the crying was still going on, we heard about six gunshots coming from the house and heard her wail in pain. We immediately concluded that all was not well for her and her kid sister."
Melisa recounts her experience of what she saw before passing out. “We ran into the house and locked the doors and stayed there then later on the military came and we heard gunshots. Soon they started breaking doors then got to our door and smashed it open then came in. They saw Carine in the palour and asked her to kneel down. I heard them ask her are you anglophones? And she said yes. They were very wild and accused her of haven seen when the Amba boys shot the military officer living just opposite our compound. I heard her crying and saying she knows nothing and the next thing I heard was three gunshots then heard her shout and her voice started dying down. They came into the room and met me on the bed and shot me three times on three different spots and took my android phone away. I felt my throat drying off when they had left and managed to creep to the kitchen where I got enough water and drank then took a smaller phone to call my mother and tell her what had happened then crept back to the room where I was shot.”
While at the hospital, The Scale News Africa also spoke with Fru Christopher the girls’ father. “My wife called me to tell me she was called from the quarter and asked not to come back that there was serious shooting in the quarter and the military had entered our house. Later she called to say our daughter had been shot. I immediately rushed home to see what had happened and this was about two hours and thirty minutes after they were shot. I was shocked to get into the house and see my precious daughter Carine lying down on her pool of blood already dead. She had been shot on the neck, close to the left breast and around her stomach on the right. I moved inside and was shocked that Melisa her second follower had been shot almost exactly the same way as a bullet narrowly missed her neck and hit her on the joint between the shoulder and the neck and the one aimed at her left breast rather hit below the breast towards her ribs and the one aimed at her stomach like her sister hit her further to the right end of her stomach. It is a miracle that she is alive. I immediately called doctors without borders and went up to the road to show them the way to the house and that is how we rushed my girls to the hospital where it my wildest imagination of Carine’s death was confirmed. If Carine had not helped the junior brother Collins to hide in the ceiling, he too would have been shot especially as he is a young boy of about 19. They thought they were girls and that it was not necessary for them to hide much since it is often thought that the target is boys. It hurts me badly to loose my first child under such circumstances. I pray her blood goes to seek justice and bring an end to this carnage” he ended.
Unable to bear the pain and trauma of loosing her daughter, the girls’ mother has been sent to her husband’s elder sister to be taken care off so as to give Melisa a chance to regain strength before the news of her sister’s death is broken to her.
Meanwhile the military has been patrolling the quarter and has ferried away the belongings of their deceased colleague.
The death of the girls adds to those of a civilian shot at the Akum mixed military control post on Tuesday and those of three Amba boys shot by military officers dressed in civilian attire at Santa on Friday July 5, 2019. The said Amba boys boldly mounted a control post along the Bamenda Santa road and were controlling vehicles along the road. They met their waterloo when a car transporting military men stopped at their control post. While checking their IDs, they were immediately gunned down by the said military officers in civilian were. Until Saturday, their co**ses were still lying on the spot.

15/06/2019

CAMASEJ/Blue Pearl MoU, Lodging of journalists made simple
By Sah Terence Animbom

The Cameroon Association of English Speaking Journalists CAMASEJ North West Chapter led by its super dynamic president Ambe MacMillian Awa has secured a fifty percent discount on three main hotel services at Blue Pearl Hotel for all its members in the country during visits to the North West Region.

This was through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding that was reached on Friday June 14, 2019 in one of the VIP conference rooms of the super elegant Blue Pearl Hotel at S-Bend Mile 3 Nkwen Bamenda.

In the MoU that was signed for CAMASEJ by Ambe MacMillian Awa and for Blue Pearl Hotel by the account officer Fonchuh Nathaniel Aseh on behalf of the manager Mr. Augustine Powege Halle, all CAMASEJ members around the country will benefit from a 50% reduction rate on lodging, laundry services and event space at the hotel for a period of 4 years beginning from the date of signature.

On the side of CAMASEJ, all her members are to make sure that they do a personal and highly committed publicity of Blue Pearl Hotel at all levels by recommending the hotel to tourists, colleagues from out of the country, to event organizers and even for their own events and to from date of signature carry the logo of Blue Pearl Hotel on the banners of all CAMASEJ organized events in the region for a period of four years.

All these goodies they will have upon presentation of their CAMASEJ membership cards for easy transaction and mutual understanding between CAMASEJ members and the management of Blue Pearl Hotel.

Ambe Mac says colleagues especially CAMASEJ members who visit the North West region should enjoy the security and comfort that Blue Pearl Hotel offers as they go about their duties.

He also called on CAMASEJ members to have Blue Pearl Hotel at the back of their minds each time they recommend a place of lodging to tourists and to any event organizer so as to meet their own end of the bargain.

The management of Blue Pearl counts on a very fruitful collaboration with CAMASEJ and its members.

15/06/2019

Wum Muslims vs Christians spree: Fresh violence of June 8, leaves 13 dead

By Sah Terence Animbom

After the burning down of over 47 houses of Fulanis in Ukpwa Village in Wum sub division, the divisional headquarters for Menchum Division in the North West Region of Cameroon on the night of Thursday May 30, 2019 that left over 300 hundred Mbororo persons in the Lake Nyos resettlement camp at Ukpwa, homeless, an inter religious war was provoked in the sub division and has so far led to many violent twists showing their ugly head on a daily basis for the past one week. 13 persons have again been slain by Muslim youths in Ketcha village between Saturday June 8, and Sunday June 9, 2019.
Houses in Ukpwa village a resettlement Camp area on the night Thursday May 30, were burnt by gunmen who portrayed themselves as Ambazonia Restoration Fighters, accusing the Mbororo community of reporting them to the military every day. The SUN spoke to some inhabitants of Upkwa who told the tears provoking tale of how they found themselves homeless and under the rains that night after the raid. “I was taken at gunpoint from my house and the people who were all armed told me we are the ones always reporting them to the government and that we have been kept at the camp by the government meaning that the government and us are the same so they don’t want us there anymore. They told me my people and I must leave their land. They pulled me to the mosque taking along my mattress and promising to burn me with it. When they got to the Mosque, they set the mosque on fire and had me well beaten with their leader smashing me from head to toe. After kicking and smashing and beating me so mercilessly, they now wanted to throw me into the burning mosque but started arguing among themselves. Some said I should be burnt while others said I shouldn’t be burnt. It’s thanks to God that the ones who said I should not be burnt outnumbered those who wanted me to be burnt and they allowed me there and left. It remains a miracle to me that he mosque did not burn and fall on me because I was dumped just in front of the mosque, unable to move because of the severe torture they had given me.” The Community leader Alhadji Bira Kurmajo told The SUN. Their goats were slain and about five cows killed.
The murder of a Muslim notable on Sunday June 2, 2019 by unknown men raised the adrenaline of Muslim youths in Wum as they vowed to revenge the burning of their houses and death of one of theirs.
As if all was calm after the North West Governor’s communiqué of Friday May 31, Monday June 3, 2019 turned out to be a Black Monday for inhabitants of Naikom, Waindu and Ketcha villages in Wum as over 50 houses including their palaces and the Baptist Church at Ndekwi were burnt by a group of Muslim youths in retaliation to the burning of their fellow muslims’s houses at Ukpwa.
Made up of Mbororos, Hausas, Akus and Fulanis, the Muslim youths mobilized themselves and went out with machetes, daggers, bows and arrows and moved from Hausa quarters to Naikom, burning houses around the GTHS Wum Junction and moving further into Ketcha village located some 4kilo meters from the post office Roundabout in Wum. Two people are reported to have died that Monday and another old man probably in his late 80s was trapped in his house when the Muslim youths set fire on his house under the watchful eyes of the Gendarmes. Unable to walk out alone, he sustained severe burns and was later rushed to the Wum District Hospital where he died on Saturday June 3, 2019.
Reports circulated on social media claiming the real culprits involved in the brutal murder of the Muslim notable were his son and friends who murdered him to collect money. The reports further said the death came as an error and was thus falsely blamed on the Amba boys as the Restoration Fighters are called. They concluded by claiming that Amba Boys had found out that the man was killed by his own son and friends and had arrested the son. However, a fresh Video circulated on social media on Saturday supposedly made by the same guy who was accused of killing his father and was reported to have been arrested. In the video he says he is free and that he could not have killed his father and that all the claims are false.
With Wum becoming tenser every day, the Senior Divisional Officer for Menchum organized a crisis meeting with some stakeholders of both communities to preach reconciliation and living together on Saturday and while the meeting was on, Fresh violence re-erupted at Ketcha with the Muslim youths again attacking and killing as many as five people and others sustaining grave injuries. One of the persons injured is Wally a popular photographer in Wum who was brutally pierced with daggers several times and is presently hospitalized. The killing spree continued on Sunday morning leading to eight more deaths including a popular Wum council worker known as Charles Taylor.
There have been wild condemnations of the complacent attitude of the military who instead of restraining the Muslim youths from burning, killing and fighting the Christians in Wum were rather making videos of the youths on the streets promising hell to Non Muslims in Wum and actually going on to execute without any restrain for the whole day. Bapa a Hausa quarter inhabitant is one of the ring leaders of the radical Muslim youths and says he is in control of the Hausa Quarter, promising hell to the Amba Boys and their families.
It is worth mentioning that the cultural differences and especially cultural intolerance that once reigned among the Mbororo community and the Aghem community in Wum at some time had been reduced to the minimal thanks to the intervention of MBOSCUDA which instituted dialogue platforms to take care of farmer grazer problems in Menchum. It is very regrettable that the Anglophone crisis seems to have reawakened the once buried spirit of suspicion and intolerance, leading to an outright war under the watchful eyes of the forces of law and order who seem to be acting as security to the now radical Muslim youths who too have become as radical as the Amba Boys.