Joe Dinga Pefok
25 February 2008
Troops in the evening of Saturday, February 23, reportedly shot to death two young men and wounded others after they (troops) clashed with anti-constitutional amendment demonstrators in Douala.
The victims, whose names we did not readily get; one is lying in the mortuary, while the other is in critical condition in hospital. Earlier, troops had dispersed a group of demonstrators after the SDF Littoral Provinacial Chair, Jean Michel Nintcheu, addressed SDF militants and other sympathisers at Rond Point Madagascar.
He was requesting Littoral Governor, Francis Fai Yengo, to lift the ban he had slammed on public demonstrations.But later, irate commercial motorcycle riders commonly called bendskin, started another demonstration, demanding the lifting of the ban on Equinoxe RV/Radio, the decrease of fuel price and end the bid to amend the constitution.
A confrontation later erupted between the troops and the riders. It was at this point the police opened fire, killing one and wounding the other in Quartier Bilonge near Madagascar. The furious riders also burnt down a newly acquired SOCATUR bus run by the Douala City Council.
The SDF Rally
Earlier, troops armed with guns, truncheons, water canons and other anti-riot equipment had been waiting for hours to puncture the "illegal" rally and a demonstration organised by the Littoral Provincial Bureau of the SDF.
But Nintcheu, whom plainclothes security operatives had reportedly been monitoring all day, took the troops by surprise, arriving at 5.45 pm instead of 2 pm. In the twinkle of an eye, about 1000 SDF militants who had been milling about like curious onlookers surrounded Nintcheu who mounted a makeshift rostrum and addressed the crowd. However, no sooner had he left than the troops backed by water cannons started chasing him, in vain.
The hot spot from the Bamenda 1990s agitations for the return to multi-party politics seems to have shifted to the swamps of Douala. Firebrand political activist, Mboua Massock, has been the troops' favourite dog to chase and molest. On February 13, troops pumped Nintcheu with tear gas inside a locked car.
Last Warning To Governor
During his brief speech, Nintcheu said the SDF was giving the Littoral Governor the last warning to lift the ban on public demonstrations. He said reading the evil intention of the Governor, which was to have SDF militants slaughtered to get accolades from his masters, he had decided to postpone the demonstration that day. The SDF Littoral boss said the demonstration would hold in a week's time.
Nintcheu also said the heavy deployment of troops and weapons to disperse a peaceful rally of unarmed and harmless SDF militants made it clear that the Littoral Governor and his Yaounde masters were out to spill the blood of those who dare to protest against Paul Biya's quest for life presidency.
But the Minister of Communication has claimed that one of the victims was killed through an accident, while another is lying in critical condition in the hospital.
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