Joe Dinga Pefok Leocadia Bongben & Elvis Tah
3 March 2008
Bamenda:Northwest Governor, Achidi Achu, J. B Ndeh Tear-gassed
Northwest Governor, Abakar Ahamat, who had braved it to the Bamenda Commercial Avenue grandstand to conclude his maiden tour of the seven Divisions on Tuesday morning, was greeted by angry rioters.
As the surging crowd invaded the grandstand, anti-riot gendarmes and soldiers fired teargas, which nearly suffocated the officials who went crashing on their bellies.
Apart from Abakar, former Prime Minister, Simon Achidi Achu, John B. Ndeh and a host of others came short of taking to their heels.
Free Booze
There was a free for all self-service boozing at three brewery depots in Bamenda. Youths were seen with crates of beer looted from Guinness S.A and Les Brasseries du Cameroun all over major streets. Some who got drunk were arrested and they only regained soberness in detention camps.
Yaounde:Transporters Warn Government Against Obsolete Methods
Transporters' trade unions have warned government to do away with colonial methods of solving problems. The transporters sounded this warning at a meeting with the Director of the National Hydrocarbons Price Stabilisation Fund, CSPH, Ibrahim Talba Malla, and government officials. They said government instead of addressing a problem, turn around it.
They urged government to ensure that the promises made are redeemed. The trade union leaders argued that if government had just reduced the price of fuel even by FCFA 5, there wouldn't have been a strike.
They accused government for being responsible for the strike. Though the meeting was to inform them of the price fixing methods employed by the CSPH, the trade unionists said they had learned such mathematics since 2005 and wanted only cuts in the price of fuel.
Gendarmes Vandalise Magic FM
Gendarmes reportedly made their way into the studios of Magic FM on Wednesday and ceased broadcast equipment. They snipped wires, ceased telephones and took away computers. According to information from Kiyeck, Magic FM Editor-in-Chief, the problem is that "Magic Attitude" a call-in programme is allegedly critical of government. He said the gendarmes accused them of inciting the people to make them revolt, the consequence being the strike. Kiyeck said that it should have been the work of the Ministry of Communication that is silent on the issue.
Drivers Say Their Leaders Were Bribed
Drivers have accused their leaders of being corrupted by the government for them to call off the strike. They say this explains why they did not negotiate well enough. To them, it is normal for the government to raise fuel price by FCFA 16 only to take it down by a meagre FCFA 6. Following the accusations, some of the syndicate offices are said to have been destroyed and the leaders are in hiding.
Though there are threats for the strike to resume on Monday, the President of the Taxi Drivers' Trade Union has maintained that efforts are underway to ensure that the arrested drivers are released before Monday.
Students Circulate Tracts
Students who joined the strike circulated tracts with a heading which read, "Youths are Saying: No to Constitutional Amendment". Following a meeting that held in Douala on February 17, the youths represented by ADDEC, CECODEV, UNECA, UBSU, FCJ, MOCPAT, Uone, SOS- Jeunesse Libre, Un Monde a Venir, SURCI, and Masters of the Game, they declared that the constitutional revision can be envisaged only after 2011. They announced the creation of the Youths' Patriotic and Popular Council to independently organise and federate without any external influence of youth political participation.
Buea: Brutality
The transporters' strike plunged Buea on Monday, February 25 into a 'ghost town' of sorts. This situation was made worst by death and several injured youths after protestors clashed with anti-riot police. Troops fired live bullets in the air and used teargas to disperse stone-throwing youths, while several youths were arrested and detained.
Besides this, the troops went on the rampage breaking into private homes, beating household members and looting property such as TV sets, cell phones, money and other valuables.
Man Hides Under Bed
A father in Great Soppo reportedly hid under his bed leaving his wife and two little children in the parlour when troops invaded his house. The troops ordered one of his kids to go to the room and call his father, which he did. The father reportedly chased the boy, who lied to the troops that his father had escaped. The officers then asked for money from the man's wife, who received some strokes for not giving anything.
Police Stopped From Looting
Policemen got to a palm wine drinking spot belonging to a certain Romanus. There were people drinking palm wine outside while others were inside his parlour watching TV. When the police arrived, those who were outside alerted those in the house and they all escaped, causing a stampede.
The police ate some bananas that were for sale, and were about going away with the TV set, when Romanus and a group came out of their hideout and stopped them. The policemen quietly gave back the TV set when Romanus and his group and other people started jeering at them, calling them thieves. In Sandpit, it was a combination of armed forces, gendarmes and policemen that raided houses and beat up the occupants.
One of the victims, Richard Tanto, a barber, who was badly wounded on the head and arm, told The Post that he was sleeping in his saloon when the soldiers smashed the door and started brutalising him. "The soldiers hit me with the end of a gun, destroyed my shaving mirror and other items..." Tanto said.
4 Shot, I Killed In Muea
Troops deployed in Muea reportedly shot four youths killing one on Wednesday, February 27. A boy of about 12 was shot in the chest and he died immediately. Bullets caught three others in their legs and buttocks. A certain Roland Moki was shot in his right buttock, while another, Yengong Abubakar, received a bullet in his ankle.
The third, whose only name we got as Eric, received a bullet in his right leg that was amputated. The Post learned from the Buea Provincial Hospital Annex that five victims injured by police bullets were received on Tuesday, February 26. The youths had reportedly blocked the entrance and exit of Muea. They destroyed part of King David Square Hotel and the house of its owner, Chief David Molinge, who allegedly told the protesters to go and strike in Bamenda.
Douala: Prostitutes Count Losses
All economic operators in Douala are counting their losses following the closure of their businesses due to the recent strike including prostitutes, especially those who service 'Rue de la Joie' at Deido. They registered their complaint that February 25 to 29 was bad a business period for them.
They said their situation was aggravated by the fact that many men in Douala were more preoccupied with survival and security than with sex. Things got rougher when many people were forced to cut down on their daily food consumption, due to the scarcity and the skyrocketing prices of food. However, in the night of Saturday, March 1, Rue de la Joie was as busy a beehive as the prostitutes tried to catch up on lost time.
Many of them were already complaining about lack of their weekly or monthly "njangi" money. Most of them didn't ask for drinks or accepted drinks. It was straight to business, as they each tried to secure as many men as possible for the night. But then some young armed soldiers almost spoiled the sport by all pestering the prostitutes about their ID cards.
Mboua Massock -The "Nuisance"
Political activist Mboua Massock, "Combatant", has been regular in the news these days in Douala. To the local administration, especially the Littoral Governor, Francis Fai Yengo and the Wouri SDO, Bernard Atebede, Mboua Massock is a big nuisance. It is also widely believed that Mboua Massock was one of those President Biya attacked in his violent address of February 27, of wanting to use unorthodox means to unseat him.
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