NW-Region Cameroon: Gendarme officer’s death sparks renewed tension in Bangolan

The villagers of Bangolan in Ngoketunjia division of the North West region, a village which has been at the center of chieftaincy wrangling, tension and strife has once again been hit with another wave of unrest following the death of a gendarme officer who was guarding the palace of Bangolan.
The gendarme officer whose names we got as Ngehson Wilson, 24 was shot dead in unclear circumstances during a commotion at the funeral celebration of one of the king makers of the palace, Taah Fomishi Mathew.
While the authorities and supporters of the Fon of Bangolan are pointing accusing fingers at the camp which seeks to oust the fon, other villagers claim that the officer was mistakenly shot by his colleague in an attempt to disperse the crowd.
One of the villagers who opted for anonymity due to security reason told The SUN that during the funeral, a famous troubleshooter, Fomishi Gilbert Sunday aka Borro, started provoking the family members of the deceased and other villagers, boasting that the villagers had once vowed that he and Fon Chafah Isaac will never set foot in the village again but they have failed.
Our source continued that Fomishi started destroying the food that was prepared for the funeral and that is when the other villagers confronted him but he was immediately protected by the gendarmes.
The gendarmes shot some canisters of tear gas which blanketed the area with thick smoke, and that is when, the villagers claim, one of the gendarmes in an attempt to fire a warning shot in the air to disperse the crowd, suddenly realized that his colleague had mistakenly caught the bullet.
Following the officer’s death, more troops were immediately deployed to the already besieged village of Bangolan. Villagers are however worried that instead of investigating the circumstances which led to the young officer’s death, the troops in cahoots with the administration and Fon Chafah have engaged in targeted justice. They claim that the troops have indulged in mass arrests, torture and destruction of houses belonging to villagers suspected to be anti-Fon Chafah.
Reports have it that since the incident occurred on November 4, 2016 till date, schools have been shutdown. Also, markets, stores and hospitals have also closed their doors.
However, The Sun cannot independently confirm either versions of how the young officer died as investigations are still ongoing but reports have it that villagers are fleeing in droves for fear of being targeted.
It should be recalled that tensions in Bangolan started some months back when some villagers called on the Fon, Fon Chafah Isaac to step down for desecrating their tradition. They immediately crowned another fon to replace him but were met with stiff resistance from the administration and other villagers who supported the Fon.

The Sun