Cameroon insurgency drains life from once vibrant towns

CAMEROON - A unit of Cameroon’s special forces edged up the winding main road of what used to be a functioning village, past the rusted shell of a burnt-out lorry loaded with smashed beer bottles, past an abandoned church and a shuttered bar.

Ekona’s thousands of residents have fled fighting between the army and separatist militias in the Southwest region in recent weeks, leaving behind the only testimony they could: squat, tinroofed houses gutted by fire, power lines strewn on overgrown verges and, above all, silence. “It is weird. There used to be shops here, it used to be normal,” said Captain Guy Herve Onambele, surveying the wreckage from his jeep protected by military trucks full of soldiers.

In the weeks preceding Sunday’s presidential elections, towns and villages in the region have been drained of life as thousands seek shelter in the French-speaking cities of Douala and Yaounde. Armed separatists have vowed to stop the election in English-speaking areas, potentially disenfranchising about one in five voters and, ironically, helping President Paul Biya, who heads a Francophone-dominated government, extend his 36 years in power.

In the once thriving city of Buea, 10 km (6 miles) from Ekona, most stores are closed on the order of separatists who want to shut down all activity in the region as part of their bid to halt the polls there. Those that do not close risk the ire of the insurgents. The bus station, normally a busy hub for surrounding villages, is empty, its muddy lot filled with litter. Bullet casings are scattered at the scene of recent firefights. Old fires have scarred the tarmac of the now quiet streets.

“You can see for yourself,” said 29-year-old clothes seller Diale Florence in the Mile 16 area of Buea, gesturing at an upturned car in a puddle, burned white after an attack three weeks ago that the army says was orchestrated by separatists.

(Reuters)