Bui SDO, Nso Fon hold strategic meeting to foster peace, dev’t.

Discussions to this effect dominated a strategic meeting the Senior Divisional Officer, SDO, of Bui, Menyong Gilbert Sunday, had recently with the Paramount Ruler of Nso, Fon Sehm Mbinglo I.

The administrator had paid a courtesy visit on the Paramount Fon, who recently returned to the palace for a brief stay. The SDO was accompanied to the palace by the DO of Kumbo Central and heads of the defence and security forces among other collaborators. 

“Return home permanently, join peace crusade”

The SDO used the visit to appeal to the traditional ruler to permanently return to his palace, federate forces with the administration and actively contribute to the return of peace by rallying his subjects to ongoing peace crusade in the Division. 

Menyong said the prolong stay of the Paramount ruler, due to insecurity, despite efforts made for him to return to the palace, was becoming worrying. 

“So, it was necessary for us to pay a courtesy visit to reassure the Fon of our commitment to continue being with him, support him in anyway possible and equally to lure him to stay in his Fondom, where he is the custodian of the tradition and the population,” the SDO explained.  

The voice of the Paramount Ruler to peace efforts, the SDO insisted, “is very strong”.

“…we feel that if he joins us in this peace caravan that we have launched, then we are going to get to where we are all craving-lasting peace in Nso land and in Bui Division in general,” the SDO stated.  

Inhabitants of the administrative unit who have taken up arms against the State, and those who incarnate them, the SDO said, are all children of the Paramount Ruler. 

“…as a Paramount Ruler, his voice counts a lot,” the levelheaded SDO, who has been doing his utmost to restore normalcy in the Division Division, noted. 

Menyong also said all has been put in place to guarantee the security of the Nso Fon, once he returns to the palace permanently. 

“I have created a permanent security post in his palace, being mounted by the 51^st Battalion…we have a detachment of soldiers who are there on a permanent basis to ensure that he is protected and that his entire environment is secured,” the SDO disclosed. 

This, the SDO said, adds to efforts made to escort him in and out of the Division. 

SDO communes with Queen Mothers 

The SDO used the courtesy visit on the Nso palace to visit and talk with the Queen Mothers, whom he said, had were disturbed about the prolong stay of the Fon out of the palace. 

“It was an opportunity to encourage them [Queen Mothers], commune with them and even support them financially, so as to boost their morale,” he said.

The meeting with the Queen Mothers, he added, was also to let them know that despite all the challenges that we are going through, “the administration still cares about them, thinks about them and is ready to accompany them in anyway”. 

Fon pledges to cleanse land, join peace efforts

Quizzed on the response of Fon Sehm Mbinglo I, the SDO said the traditional ruler was so happy with the ongoing initiative to restore peace in Bui Division. 

“…Fon Sehm Mbinglo I was so elated…he promised that he is going to do his best and that peace must reign in Kumbo,” the SDO quoted him as saying. 

Menyong said the traditional ruler also expressed the wish to cleanse the land of the countless atrocities and blood that have spilled as a result of the armed conflict in the North West and the South West Regions. 

The Fon, the SDO disclosed, promised to return home permanently after the cleansing rituals.  

SDO visits hot spots, assures population of security 

From the palace, the SDO and his entourage visited a major road junction in Kumbo, popularly called Squares, where business activities take place.

Here, he reminded the population of the need to continue collaborating with defence and security forces in the administrative unit. 

“…Square is at the heart of Kumbo town. Being the heart of Kumbo town, it has also been a privilege site for terrorists who mount explosives there. They also hide at Squares to launch their attacks at our defence and security forces,” the SDO explained. 

“It was necessary that we equally pass there and encourage businesspeople, and those carrying out commercial activities around there to encourage them to make them know that we are aware of their plight and to make them know of the assurance of our permanent security measures and the dispositions that we have put around there,” the SDO added. 

His visit to Square, he added, was also “a message to terrorists, who think they can do and undo. It was to make them know that the State is still in control as always and Republican institutions are all fully functional”. 

Hails civilian-military collaboration 

The SDO also hailed the improved collaboration between the population and defence and security forces, which he said has greatly contributed to the relative peace being enjoyed in Bui Division.

“Before, it was not like that. There was a lot of skepticism. There was a lot of suspicion. There was a lot of hatred. But today, I feel that the population is beginning to understand that the forces of law and order are there for their security and the collaboration has improved so greatly,” Menyong revealed.

Such collaboration and intelligence, given by the population, he added, account for the success in various operations carried out recently by the defence and security forces.

“At times, they call us even at night, at times they lead us, at times they come to us when they have problems,” he said, adding that the population has also renewed their trust in State institutions. 

“Before, when the people had their quarrels and misunderstandings, they were neither taking it to the administration. They will hardly consult the judiciary, the defence and security forces, or the police. But today, we have cases at the Gendarmerie and Police Station. Today, the DO receives people who come to complain…,” he stated. 

With the new entente between the population and the administration, the SDO sounded upbeat the “administrative unit will never be the same again”. 

Security situation under control in Bui 

Quizzed on the current security situation in his area of command, the SDO said Bui is enjoying “relative calm” 

This, he said, accounts for the progress of works on the Ring Road and other development projects in the Division “unperturbed, contrary to the yesteryears where it was relatively difficult”.

He admitted that there are still pockets of resistance in some areas in the Division that are still enclaved due to the undulating topography. 

Notwithstanding the difficulties, he said, soldiers have repeatedly carried out crackdowns in such areas to neutralise the “terrorists”. 

Amba fighters surrendering, joining DDR

The SDO revealed that there is a recent trend of most of those he described as “terrorists”, “gradually dropping their weapons to join DDR centres”.

“…in the past month, we have sent not less than 10 to the Bamenda DDR centre and the trend keeps continuing…I recently received a call from a priest, indicating to me that there is someone who had surrendered himself,” Menyong disclosed.

He assured those still in the bushes but afraid to surrender of their safety, assuring that nothing will be done to them if they heed the Head of State’s peace call.

“We receive and give them first-class treatment, after which we send them to the DDR centre in Bamenda. I think the mentality has greatly changed… it is just a matter of time and Bui Division will not be the same again,” the SDO boasted.