Huge fire ravages Idabato: Minister Dion Ngute won't talk

Rita Akana

A huge fire broke out in the district of Idabato, Ndian department in the South West Region of Cameroon on Sunday Cameroon Concord has learnt.  The Senior Divisional Office in Mundemba the chief town in Ndian Division has released a statement saying 2 hectares of agricultural land and 115 houses have been destroyed and more than 1,500 people are now homeless.

The fire that started on the night of Sunday the 28^th of December has caused great damages which are estimated at over 100 million FCFA. More than 1,530 adults and elderly people are sleeping under the Idabato skies. Information that filtered to our news desk maintains that urgent interim measures have been taken to squeeze the victims, first the minors and the elderly in a church premise and in the classrooms of a primary school.

It is two days after the disaster and no official investigation has been launched to uncover the cause of the fire and not even a word from Minister and Chief Dion Ngute representing the Irokos in the Biya government. This is typical of the Francophone Beti-Ewondo pattern of governance when it comes to reacting to disasters in Anglophone Cameroon. Idabato is one of the beautiful localities of the Bakassi peninsular found in Ndian Division in the Southwest region.