Officials say Julius Benengweh, otherwise known as ‘Babessi Must Obey Me’, was killed in the wee hours of Sunday, December 6, 2020, in Babessi, Ngoketunjia Division of the North West Region.

“The notorious amba fighter, Julius Benengweh alias Babessi Must Obey Me was shot dead by the military in Babessi,” Lasha Kingsley, a journalist familiar with the story reported. “He was shot this morning at about 4 am in Nzohmayi, a quarter in Babessi while in full action with his concubine.”

The journalist adds that the remains of the separatist fighter were abandoned at Mumbeh Junction in Babessi, an account that has been buttressed by pictures and videos that have now gone viral on social media. In one of such videos, soldiers are heard celebrating, intimating that Julius was a thorn in the flesh of the population.

“Last year, Julius was accused of torturing his father-in-law, Mr. Francis Nyifeh to death, executing his cousin (Mr. Thadius), his cousin's wife (Helen), and a nursing mother,” Lasha Kingsley furthered.

Cameroon-Info.Net recalls that armed separatists kidnapped 90-year-old Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi, Archbishop Emeritus of Douala, and Fon Sehm Mbinglo II of Nso at about 6:30 pm on Thursday, November 5, 2020, in Baba, Babessi subdivision, Ngoketunjia Division of Cameroon’s North West Region.

While the Cardinal was freed the next day, Fon Mbinglo spent five days in captivity. It is rumored that a FCFA 20 million ransom was paid before they were freed. Following the incident, government officials said all those behind the abduction would be brought to justice.

Cameroon’s state forces have been battling to dislodge armed separatists who pitched their tents in the North West and South West Regions since Anglophone protests 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.

Tit-for-tat killings, kidnappings, arsons, maiming, and outright terror have become part of daily lives in some parts of the English-speaking regions.