Adamawa: Irate truck drivers barricade Ngaoundere-Meiganga Road.

It is reported that a gendarme officer slapped a driver, provoking others to block the road. Authorities are said to have battled to douse the tension.

The standoff, which left hundreds of passengers stranded overnight, is reported to have been caused by an alleged assault on a truck driver at a checkpoint in Ngaoundere.

According to eyewitness accounts, the confrontation began when a gendarme reportedly slapped a driver during a routine control. News of the incident is said to have spread quickly among other transporters, who denounced what they described as recurring harassment and abuses at checkpoints.

Furious, the drivers are said to have immediately mobilised and barricaded the road, paralysing movement between the Adamawa and East regions.

The truck drivers are said to have initially demanded the dismantling of the checkpoint, describing it as “the Vatican of corruption” a demand that was eventually met. 

Yet even after the post was dismantled, the drivers refused to take away the blockade, insisting that only the intervention of the Minister of Transport would convince them to reopen the highway.

In several attempts to defuse the situation, the Senior Division Officer, SDO, of Djérem, Roger Saffo, and the Governor of Adamawa, Kildadi Taguieke Boukar, both visited the scene, appealing for calm and urging drivers to clear the road.

But their calls fell on deaf ears with drivers arguing that previous promises made by the Ministry of Transport, Jean Ernest Masséna Ngalle Bibehe, regarding road safety, infrastructure maintenance, and control-point reforms had not been fulfilled.

Speaking directly to the Governor, a representative of the disgruntled drivers expressed the collective frustration.

“We drivers are not politicians. We never get involved in politics. If this situation arises, we are the ones to lose. We have asked for the road to be fixed, for the public highway to be cleared. Create roads, change the roads. We pay taxes, all the tolls, we stop at all checkpoints and there is not even a road. And still, we face harassment from the gendarmes and police,” he said.

The drivers went on to highlight a pattern of grievances dating back years: poor road conditions, corruption, unregulated checkpoints, and violent confrontations between transporters and law enforcement.

“The drivers’ grievances did not start today. They will not end today,” another driver said, noting that “we want firm, determined cooperation between the gendarmerie, the police, the population and the drivers”.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3649 of Monday December 08, 2025