Uncertainty looms in Buea Unknown
A gendarme officer is reported to have died from a mob action after he allegedly fired his gun killing a little schoolgirl.
The incident occurred on Thursday morning at a security checkpoint around the Divine Mercy Co-Cathedral in the city of Buea in Cameroon’s South-West Region.
Although state authorities are yet to issue an official statement, open sources say the gendarmerie officer, lynched by a mob, had in an attempt to immobilize a car at a security checkpoint, shot and killed a three-year-old schoolgirl who was being accompanied to school by her parent.
Onlookers and passersby are said to have taken the laws into their hands. They were later joined by a thick crowd to administer mob justice on the suspect gendarme.
A video of the mob action that has gone viral shows policemen watching helplessly as the gendarme is stoned.
Before long, the situation degenerated into a popular protest as the irate crowd marched with the corpse of the little girl from Molyko to the Governor’s Office and back.
At the Governor’s Office, the crowd chanted songs demanding an end to security checkpoints that have been transformed into extortion posts.
“FCFA 500! FCFA 500,” they chanted, urging authorities to sanitize the security corps in the country plagued by corruption.
Some of the protesters claim the gendarme shot at the car, killing the schoolgirl, because the driver of the car failed to stop and offer a FCFA 500 (less than a dollar) bribe.
The Governor of the South-West Region, Okalia Bilai Bernard was on hand to receive the irate population.
The Governor called for calm, describing the situation as unfortunate.
“It is indeed a shocking incident. An innocent child has been killed. All of us are in shock. I want to assure you that those who did it, some are already in the hands of the law,” the Governor said.
Meanwhile, the remains of the little girl were displayed at Bongo’s Square in Clerks’ Quarters. A woman in an advanced age stripped naked to protest against brutality by security forces.
The headless corpse was paraded down to the esplanade of the Molyko Stadium, paralyzing traffic.
At press time, the road leading to the Molyko Stadium and the entire vicinity had been overtaken by a huge crowd. The stadium had been opened for the irate population and the Bishop of the Diocese of Buea, His Lordship Michael Bibi was about addressing the population.
It’s a developing story…
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