English EN French FR
contact@themusebaproject.org
No Result
View All Result
vendredi, 1 juillet 2022
The Museba Project
  • Home
  • About us
  • Investigation
  • Special Reports
  • Impact
  • Videos
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
The Museba Project
  • Home
  • About us
  • Investigation
  • Special Reports
  • Impact
  • Videos
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
The Museba Project
No Result
View All Result

Insecurity: As gang violence escalates in Douala, residents are ‘not safe anymore’

Christian LOCKA by Christian LOCKA
26/10/2018
in Organized Crime, Special Reports
0
FacebookTwitter

If he steps the wrong way, Thierry Essiane feels an excruciating pain in his left thigh where he was stabbed in July as he tried to stop a street fight.

« We could not watch this gruesome show without reacting,” said the 23-year-old motorcycle taxi driver. “We also grabbed knives to fight. One of them wanted to stab me in the belly. I dodged, but the knife went into my left thigh.”

The perpetrators fled but not before they wounded some onlookers and stole items from nearby stalls. When police arrived on the scene, they stopped a furious mob from lynching a man who didn’t escape and was accused of bringing the gang to the neighborhood.

« While the police were escorting the man to their vehicle, someone in the crowd threw a large stone and he fell to the ground,” said Hélène Delli, a 38-year-old local resident. “He was bleeding and was taken to a hospital.”

In Douala, the economic capital of this central African country, this scene is becoming increasingly common as young men armed with knives, machetes and sticks roam the streets, often murdering, looting and raping in conflicts with other gangs.

In this case, the attacker was a child who was probably younger than 15, and a refugee, say authorities — Cameroon hosts almost 350,000 refugees from the Central African Republic, Nigeria, Chad and Mali.

After a coalition of Muslim rebels called the Seleka overthrew Central African Republic President François Bozizé in 2013, for example, around 230,000 Central African refugees fled to Cameroon, according to the UN.

Also, tens of thousands of Nigerians fled the ISIS-affiliated Boko Haram militants who have been running rampant in their country. Cameroon returned 100,000 of them back home in recent years, garnering criticism from human rights groups.

They and other refugees came to the once-tranquil streets of Douala in hopes of finding jobs and other opportunities. But the breakdown of security in their sprawling communities has led to gangs perpetually fighting in tit-for-tat conflicts.

“There are some who avenge one of their own who has been attacked,” Beti Minyono Dominique, commander in chief of the Douala security forces in Cité Cicam, a district where the gangs are concentrated. “Then there are those who are paid by people who want to settle accounts with their enemies or opponents. The majority of these aggressors are foreigners.”

It’s become a major issue in the city, say locals.

« The phenomenon of gangs is a gangrene that is flourishing, » said Henriette Ekwe, a political analyst, newspaper publisher and founder of Cameroon’s chapter of Transparency International, a corruption and governance watchdog group. « A gendarmerie officer recently confided to me that without knowing the layout of certain neighborhoods, law enforcement officials become easy prey to bandits.”

There are no official figures on gangs. Security forces have arrested hundreds in street fights that led to several murders and hundreds of injuries in Douala this year, said local officials. But law enforcement rarely produces results. Police recently rounded up dozens of young suspected gang members but later released them for lack of evidence.

Neighborhood gang leaders who did not want to be quoted said hundreds of men were in street gangs in each neighborhood of the city of 3 million. They said they could easily bribe their way out of jail.

Benoit Yapelendji is a refugee from the Central African Republic. A former member of the anti-Balaka, a Christian militia in the Central African Republic that opposes the Seleka, he joined a gang of around 10 fellow refugees in Cité-Cicam.

« We do not attack people, » said the 17-year-old horse-taxi driver, caressing his dreadlocks. « We live here as a family with the brothers of West Africa, too — even the police are in the family. Someone can come and ask us to help solve a problem. Everyone comes out with his equipment. Me, I take my machete to do the work.”

In the Central African Republic, Yapelendji was working in a vehicle repair shop in Bangui when civil war erupted at home. The eldest of four children, two of whom were killed by Muslim militiamen, he takes drugs before street fighting.

« It’s cocaine that gives us the strength and courage to fight, » he said.

Meanwhile, police are now concerned over vigilantes getting together and lynching gang members — a whole new escalation.

“To respect human rights, law enforcement forces refuse to brutalize suspects,” said Dominique. “But some people take this attitude as a sign of weakness.”

Most residents, meanwhile, say they have experienced gang violence and just want it to stop.

« Two boys came into the hair salon and asked for our mobile phones,” said Martine Essombe, who said she handed over her phone immediately. “Outside, other young people were taking old people out of their homes to beat them up, saying they were avenging their friend. Frankly, we’re not safe anymore. »

Tags: armedCARconflictgangs
Previous Post

Christian refugees face new fears in unstable Central African Republic

Next Post

Chinese miners invade Cameroon, exploiting gold without authorization and causing deaths

Next Post

Chinese miners invade Cameroon, exploiting gold without authorization and causing deaths

Laisser un commentaire Annuler la réponse

Votre adresse de messagerie ne sera pas publiée. Les champs obligatoires sont indiqués avec *

Entrez Captcha ici : *

Reload Image

No Result
View All Result

Articles récents

  • CITES suspends Cameroon after The Museba Project’s revelations on rosewood trafficking
  • Illegal fuel trade is enriching Cameroon Security forces, Customs Officials As Government Is Losing Billions
  • Des sociétés minières chinoises financent le développement en Centrafrique
  • CAMVERT, l’agro-industrie opaque qui rase les forêts camerounaises sans être inquiétée
  • RDC : Comment la Chine modernise l’aéroport de Goma

Commentaires récents

  • CITES suspends Cameroon after The Museba Project's revelations about rosewood trafficking - The Museba Project dans Bois de rose : volé au Cameroun, blanchi au Nigeria, expédié en Chine
  • Les coulisses de l’enquête #Fraude Médicale - The Museba Project dans Des millions de FCFA en jeu: Affairisme autour de l’incinération des déchets dangereux
  • Des sociétés minières chinoises applaudies par les communautés locales en Centre Afrique. – Projet Afrique Chine dans Des sociétés minières chinoises financent le développement en Centrafrique
  • Récompense: The Museba honoré au Prix Norbert Zongo - The Museba Project dans Les déchets médicaux déversés dans la nature causent des infections, des meurtres à Douala
  • Chinese mining companies financing development in the Central African Republic - ACRP dans Des sociétés minières chinoises financent le développement en Centrafrique

Archive

  • juin 2022
  • mai 2022
  • mars 2022
  • février 2022
  • janvier 2022
  • novembre 2021
  • octobre 2021
  • août 2021
  • mars 2021
  • février 2021
  • novembre 2020
  • octobre 2020
  • septembre 2020
  • août 2020
  • juillet 2020
  • juin 2020
  • mai 2020
  • novembre 2019
  • octobre 2019
  • septembre 2019
  • juillet 2019
  • avril 2019
  • mars 2019
  • février 2019
  • janvier 2019
  • novembre 2018
  • octobre 2018

Tags

armed armes Bangui betail blood Cameroon Cameroun camerounais CAR centrafrique Central African Republic Chine Chinese conflict conflit corruption covid19 death Dechets médicaux diamants diamonds Douala exploitation exports finaement gangs Gaz du Cameroun gaz naturel illegal journalisme Mexique migrants miners mining Minusca peacekeepers rape rca RDC rebellion regugees sang santé UN victoria oil and gas

PARTNERS

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About us
  • Investigation
  • Special Reports
  • Impact
  • Videos
  • Contact

© 2020 Copyright All Rights Reserved. Powered By Webmaster Freelance.