The Commander of the 5th Joint Military Region, Brigadier General Nka Valère, the Commander of the 5th Gendarmerie Region, Brigadier General Ekongwese Divine Nnoko and the North West Regional Delegate for National Security, Police Commissioner Gousmo Emile said operation “Bamenda clean” took off on Tuesday. 

“The population of the city of Bamenda and its environs are hereby informed that on instructions from the top  command, Defence and Security Forces, DSF, have initiated a special operation to secure the city of Bamenda and its surroundings code-named “Bamenda clean” from Tuesday, September 8, 2020,” Tuesday’s press release read in part. 

The security chiefs said the operation is in response to rising insecurity occasioned by the activities of “terrorists and criminals”.

Hear them: “The purpose of this operation is to protect and secure the population of the city of Bamenda  and its surroundings. This is in response to frequent attacks perpetrated by terrorists and criminals such as kidnappings, robbery of banks and stores, looting, wanton killings of civilians and personnel of the Defence and Security Forces.

“The atmosphere of terror imposed by these terrorists and criminals on our population  is unacceptable. Each and every one is therefore invited to collaborate with the Defence and Security Forces throughout this operation. 

“In addition, the population is also invited to scrupulously respect the orders taken by the city Mayor of Bamenda and the SDO of Mezam prohibiting the circulation of commercial motorbikes within the urban perimeter of the Bamenda city.

“These orders are part and parcel of measures to secure and protect the population. We call on the syndicates of motorbike riders in various subdivisions to ensure that the implementation of these orders don’t suffer any derailments in order to re-enforce security measures.”

Cameroon’s Defence and Security Forces have been battling armed men in the North West and South West Regions who seek to create a putative state called Ambazonia. 

Corporate demands by Common Law Lawyers and Anglophone Teachers led to protests in November 2016. The street demonstrations later morphed into ongoing running gun battles between state forces and armed separatist fighters in the predominantly English-speaking regions, leading to untold destruction of human lives, their habitats, and livelihoods. 

Tit-for-tat killings have become part of daily lives in some parts of the English-speaking regions. 

The security boost in Bamenda comes after last week's attacks that left a police inspector dead. Government responded by restricting the circulation of motorbikes within the urban center of Bamenda. 

Norway-based separatist Lucas Ayaba Cho, leader of the Ambazonia Governing Council, AGovC, that runs the Ambazonia Defence Forces, ADF, called on armed fighters to lockdown Bamenda until the restriction on the circulation of motorbikes is lifted.