By Kingsley Njieti in Buea
International travelers from the English Speaking regions of Cameroon are high targets for exploitation by government forces and armed groups operating in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon following the armed conflict that has persisted for about six years now.
They are seen as potential moneybags thus prompting some unscrupulous military officers to device dubious ways to exploit money from them. Testimonies abound of travelers who either came from the United States or the United Kingdom and were arrested and framed up by military officers with the sole intention to extort money from them. In 2019, Paul Ngong, a native of Belo sub division in the restive north West region of the country was framed up by the military, arrested and tortured for about a week after he returned from the United states. Paul only regained his freedom after bribing some officers with over FCFA 1 million to fake his escape so he could run away.
Like Paul, Sona Daniel Epie was framed up in Buea about two weeks ago on July 18, when he returned to the country after making several trips out of the country within a short while. “I was on my way to Kumba my home town which has unfortunately been one of the hottest areas of the armed conflict. At a military checkpoint in the outskirts of Buea, a military officer after collecting my passport asked where I was going to and I replied I was going to Kumba. He asked me to step out of the car with all my belongings. His colleague joined him and they asked to see my mobile money account balance. I hesitated telling them they did not have to check my account balance, and they both brutally kicked and slapped me saying I was sponsoring terrorists in Kumba.” Daniel narrated to this reporter on phone after his release.
“I was still trying to explain myself when they ordered the driver to bring out all my belongings from the car. The officers seemed to be infuriated by the fact that I dared to refuse to give them the passcode to my mobile money account. He said they were going to teach me a lesson. My journey was aborted half way as I was dragged into the military van and taken to a detention center in Buea. For a week, I was tortured, threatened with life imprisonment and barely had something to eat. The conditions in the detention cell were appalling. We spent the nights on the bare floor. The toilet was just inside the cell and there was no water to flush at night.” Daniel continued to narrate his ordeal.
He told this reporter that he only succeeded after bribing his way out with FCFA 500,000. He could not continue to Kumba so he returned to Douala from where he took a flight to the United Arabs Emirate.
Most people who find themselves in Daniel and Paul’s situation can only bribe their way out with huge sums of money before they can be freed. When they don’t pay any money, they are kept in detention sometimes for years.
According to Senior Warrant Officer Ebengue Jean Marie speaking in a security meeting in Buea, travelers are being monitored very strictly. “Yes it is true that we are being careful with people who go in and out of our country because we understand how some of them in the diaspora are helping these fighters to destabilize the country. They do that through these people who move in and out frequently.”
Conscious of this, many military officers are using their offices to intimidate and extort money from English speaking Cameroonians who travel into the country. They often use intimidation and false claims to render their victims helpless.
Non state armed groups also take advantage of the chaos and kidnap international travelers for ransom.