Cocoa boom leaves farmers at mercy of pickpockets, thieves.

Some of them who spoke to newsmen, said both farmers and dealers are increasingly being targeted when and where ever the commodity is sold and bought. 

In a more recent case in Ntui, a cocoa producing community in the Centre Region, officials of the security services admitted that there has been a noticeable surge in crime wave, which they attribute to the boom in cocoa prices. 
The said view was corroborated by Idriss Gomtse Mvouti, a municipal councilor in Ntui.

“Ntui, is a Subdivision about 100 kilometers north of Yaounde. The recent surge in cocoa prices has triggered a wave of insecurity” he told reporters.

 He then went philosophical in the way he expressed his worry: "The honey pot attracts flies—and bees". 

 The municipal Councilor reiterated that cocoa farmers are increasingly targeted by thieves from outside the community who steal their crops and other valuables right in the farms and plantations. 

"People are coming from elsewhere to operate here," he lamented, noting that many of the perpetrators are believed to come from a city in the Littoral Region. 

The developing trend is further corroborated by the gendarmerie brigade in Ntui where officers say cocoa producers are often attacked after selling their harvests. 

"The criminals arrive from outside the area, and with help from local accomplices, rob the farmers just after they've sold their cocoa sacks," one uniform officer who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters. 

He added that although there was already some level of insecurity in the surrounding community before, it has intensified in the wake of the sharp rise in cocoa prices.

Over the past year, he further elaborated, the price of cocoa per kilogram has skyrocketed from 1,000 CFA francs to 5,000 CFA francs, which is benefiting producers greatly. Insisting that farmers are not the only targets of the thieves. Cocoa traders are also vulnerable. 

Another uniform officer explained that export companies send traders to purchase cocoa directly from the producers, who often carry large sums of raw cash, thereby attracting criminals. 

"Local accomplices tip off others, who then travel long distances to commit these thefts," the officer said.

He added that the situation has been exacerbated by improvements in roads and other transport infrastructure, as the area is now more accessible due to the paving of National Road No. 15 from Batchenga to Ntui, Yoko, and Lena, a project funded by the African Development Bank, AfDB and other international funding partners. 

The security officer then revealed that Ntui has a population of about 50,000 people, and has also recently benefited from over eight kilometers of paved urban roads and 73 kilometers of improved local roads, making the town more attractive as a residential area for both natives and strangers. 

“While these developments have boosted local connectivity, they have also led to a rise in security, with the accompanying crime wave. We have seen a marked increase in complaints at the brigade. Previously, people would report issues to their village chief. But now, with the road, they are coming more often to the gendarmerie brigade. We are arresting and charging more criminals than before” the gendarme officer said.

To address the said growing security threat, the officer went on to assure that a new gendarmerie post has been set up in Nguila, about 30 kilometers north of Ntui, with regular patrols deployed to monitor the area.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3302 of Tuesday November 26, 2024