A gendarme killed a schoolgirl by shooting at a vehicle where she was in the English-speaking part of Cameroon in the grip of a bloody conflict between the police and the separatists, said Thursday (October 14) the governor of the South West and local NGOs.
“
We call on the population to calm.
It's a sad and unfortunate incident
, ”Bernard Okalia Bilai told CRTV, state television.
Read also Cameroon: death of Archbishop Christian Tumi, figure of peace in the English-speaking area
The alleged attacker was lynched by the mob and the situation remains explosive in Buea where hundreds of people have expressed their anger over the death of the girl, according to several local NGOs.
“
A lady accompanied the children to school.
At a checkpoint, his vehicle was stopped, but the driver did not comply.
A gendarme opened fire and the bullet fatally hit a schoolgirl,
”said Blaise Chamango, head of the NGO Human Is Right, present in Buéa.
“
The population reacted by lynching the gendarme.
More than 500 people came out and walked with the body of the victim to the governor's office.
He tried to appease people by promising sanctions,
”he added.
Unauthenticated images of the slain girl, the gendarme and the angry mob abound on social media.
A conflict that has lasted for more than 4 years
In the two South-West and North-West regions, where most of the English-speaking minority lives in a predominantly French-speaking country led by the indestructible Paul Biya, 88 years old, of whom nearly 39 are in power, the armed separatist groups and the Security forces dispatched by Yaoundé have been clashing in a deadly conflict for four years. In September, around 15 soldiers were killed in two attacks in five days.
Both camps are also regularly accused by international NGOs and the UN of abuses and crimes against civilians.
The conflict has killed more than 3,500 people and forced more than 700,000 people to flee their homes since 2017, according to the same sources.
This insurgency erupted at the end of 2017 after numerous demonstrations by part of the English-speaking minority who considered themselves ostracized.
"
The murder of a child, even if it has nothing to do with the Anglophone crisis, can degenerate the situation,
" said an NGO official who requested anonymity.
"
The climate of impunity enjoyed by the security forces in the region favors this type of event,
" he added.