UDP Chairman sympathises with Bamenda market fire victims.

Visiting the incident scene over the weekend, the leader of the UDP political outfit, Lawan Bako, sympathised with shop and property owners who suffered unquantifiable losses to the fire incident. 

He also commiserated with the entire population of Bamenda over the unfortunate incident before expressing the hope that the appropriate authorities would find out the cause of the incident with a view to preventing a recurrence.

The veteran politician and member of the presidential majority group, told the victims at the incident scene, that: “I have come here today the 23rd of February to sympathise with you following the incident which occurred on Thursday”.

Lawan Bako, whose UDP political party has previously fielded candidates for local elections, said he was devastated by the incident.

He described the Bamenda Main Market as the “People’s Market”. 

Members of the UDP as a political platform, he said, “are unhappy with what has happened. We are all sad because of this situation”.

“We are praying that the government of Cameroon should properly investigate this situation starting from where this fire first began and thereafter compensate the victims for what they have lost,” he said, adding that the entire population of the region and even those who came to visit feel the pain of the incident. 

He challenged local municipal authorities to do their utmost to prevent such situations in the future by ensuring availability of water. 

“We ask the council to make sure that such a thing never happens by ensuring that water is available in this market,” he urged local authorities.

He used the opportunity to also mourn the victim of the February 11 explosive detonation in Nkambe, in the Donga Mantung Division. 

“Of recent, we had a similar problem in Nkambe. I am also here to mourn our little girl who loss her life in Nkambe,” he said. 

Demands peace & justice 

Lawan Bako then insisted that: “We want peace and justice to reign in our Region and country at large”.

The visit of Lawan Bako to the fire incident scene, it should be said, came hours after that of North West Governor and other local authorities of the city of Bamenda.

During the visit, Governor Adolphe Lele L'afrique, had advised traders, whose shops and properties were razed to remain calm for competent authorities to investigate the cause of the incident.

The victims were also assured that they will be compensated in due course. The fire incident, it should be recalled, broke out February 22 at about 5:30 p.m.

Witnesses said the incident originated from a particular shop, though they were unable to get the exact cause of the fire.

The Guardian Post gathered from sources that all efforts to stop the fire at the early stage by vendors were futile, as it took the firefighters about 30 minutes to arrive the scene. It took the firefighters the whole night and Friday morning to arrest the situation.

After the incident, several persons and groups, including the CPDM Senators from the North West Region and the Archbishop of Bamenda have been sending words of comfort to the victims. 

The National Chairman of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, Joshua Osih, visiting the market on Saturday, assured the victims that they will be compensated. 

Since January 2024, the town of Bamenda has witnessed about nine fire incidents, according to local authorities.