About four days after some 15 soldiers were brutally sent to the land of no return in an attack claimed by two groups of separatist fighters led by dreaded Amba General No Pity in Ndop, Ngoketunjia Division of the restive North West region, no communication has been made by the army spokesperson.
In what has been qualified by observers as a disturbing silence, the Cameroonian army is yet to react to the killing of 15 of its members last Thursday September 16 in an attack described as one of the most gruesome on the army since the crisis went violent.
The soldiers from the Rapid Intervention Battalion were on board two armoured vehicles when they were ambushed by two dreadful groups of Ambazonia fighters – the Jaguars of Bamessing, commanded by General Sagard, and the Marines of Bambalang, led by General No Pity along the Bamessing-Sabga stretch of road in the Ngoketunjia Division, North West region.
After torturing and finally killing those that were still alive, the fighters took videos of their victims naked, soaked in their own blood, some with body parts off and others burning and posted them on social media, shocking the entire nation.
It was a complete outrage on social media with many condemning the barbaric act on soldiers on duty and calling on the Government of Cameroon to respond appropriately to the five-year long crisis that is taking a “bitter twist.”
Surprising enough is the silence of the army since the act was perpetrated. Cameroonians in general and families of the victims in particular are still expecting the army’s spokesperson to give clear details on what happened to the soldiers.
For some time now, Ambazonia fighters have been successfully launching deadly attacks on soldiers. Five days before the Ndop incident, seven soldiers of the same Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR perished after their vehicle exploded upon stepping on an improvised explosive device in Kumbo in the Bui Division, one of the most hard-hit areas by the Anglophone crisis.
Ariane Foguem