Cameroonian Soldiers Arrested Over Shooting Of Civilians In Troubled Northwest
Three soldiers serving in Cameroon's armed forces have been arrested in connection with the shooting dead of two women in the province riven by separatist violence.
Chief Bisong EtahobenSeptember 22, 2022
CAMEROON DEFENSE MINISTER JOSEPH BETI ASSOMO ON A RECENT VISIT TO THE RESTIVE NORTHWEST REGION OF CAMEROON WHERE THE TWO WOMEN WERE KILLED
Three soldiers serving with the Cameroon army, deployed in the restive Northwest region, have been arrested for killing two women in the village of Nylbat-Andek, in Momo Division.
The women shot dead by the three unidentified soldiers from the Koutaba Airport Unit on Monday September 19, 2022, were identified as Abazie Suzanne, 49, and Etoh Basheba Akutah, 47.
A statement issued Wednesday September 21, signed by the Head of the Communication Division of the Cameroon army, Atonfack Guemo Cyrille Serge, said the three soldiers have been disarmed, demobilised and moved out of the area where the incident took place and have been detained at the Mbengwi gendarmerie.
"The immediate investigation opened by the local administrative and judicial authorities as well as the defence and security forces will enable more light to be thrown and to determine the reasons and the responsibilities for these double deaths which will be the objects of rigorous legal treatment and regular step-by-step communication", the army statement declared.
The Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence, Joseph Beti Assomo, has subsequently expressed his profound regrets for the deaths and extended his condolences to the families of the slain women.
The corpses of the two women have been handed over to their families for burial.
Since protests by English-speaking teachers and lawyers against marginalisation by the majority French-speaking government and its assigns in 2016, which protests later morphed into clashes between the military and separatists calling for an independent nation of Ambazonia in 2017, several civilians have lost their lives by way of collateral damage or direct slayings by combatants of both sides.
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