The police patrol team in Bamenda II Subdivision was taken by surprise by an unknown number of unidentified gunmen who had been hiding in a building near the scene of the incident, a local police source told The Observer.

It reports that the murdered police inspector, popularly known as Petit Bikolo, was on a regular patrol of the area with his colleagues. The assailants are said to have attacked from a building at Small Mankon and disappeared through the back door.

“The officers were at a control post at Small Mankon, not far from City Chemist Roundabout, when unidentified gunmen emerged from a nearby house onboard motorbikes and opened fire before speeding away,” a voice note attributed to a security source said.

The 28-year-old Petit Bikolo was rushed to the police hospital in Bamenda where he was clinically confirmed dead.

In response to the attack, security and defense forces are said to have flooded the area in a bid to track down the assailants. The deafening gunshots that rented the air in Bamenda grounded activities in the ancient city.

“From the Commercial Avenue to Food Market, Small Mankon, and Sonac Street, everything is at a standstill. Those who were in shops in the commercial center of Bamenda had to prostrate for long hours as the gun battle intensified. Even doctors, nurses, and patients struggled to take cover,” a local said.

Recorded audios of the shootings in Bamenda have since been shared on social media platforms. Some of the audios suggest that at least one civilian was wounded in the gunfire.

Amateur videos show some motorbikes going up in flames as others are towed away.

Another video shows police officers destroying makeshift businesses along major streets in Bamenda. Food and other items were emptied into gutters by the gun-wielding men in police uniform.

State forces have been battling to dislodge armed separatists who pitched their tents in the North West and South West Regions since the current crisis transformed into an armed conflict in 2017.

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.