When Cameroon is likened to Pandora's Box.

Since late October, Cameroon has been in turmoil, with dozens of compatriots killed in the aftermath of the presidential election dispute; motorists have been fatally shot in Ngaoundere and Douala in traffic during traffic controls.

Last Friday, the crash of a fuel tanker in Likomba, Tiko, in Fako Division, in the South West Region, which killed some eight people on the spot, burned 10 houses and eight vehicles, overshadowed the massacre of eight other compatriots in Ndu Subdivision of the North West Region.

It added to the plethora of media headlines that have put the country on the international radar with bad news.

According to credible media reports, indiscriminate violence rocked Wowo, a village in Ndu Subdivision, in Donga Mantung division of the restive North West Region, leaving at least eight people dead and several others injured; following deadly community clashes fueled by Amba fighters.

Witnesses said the bloodshed began in the early hours of last Friday when gunmen, suspected to be armed separatist fighters, reportedly stormed a Mbororo community, killing three people.

A security source in the area is quoted as having said the attack triggered fear and tension among residents. By nightfall last Saturday, the violence took a retaliatory turn. Armed Mbororo youths allegedly launched an attack on Wowo village, resulting in the deaths of five people.

Explaining what happened to reporters, Festus Njeba, a prominent local leader of the Wimbum tribe, said the attackers acted on suspicion rather than facts.

“The Mbororo people assumed that people who attacked them were from Wowo village and invaded the village at night,” Njeba told Chinese News Agency by phone.

“They embarked on a house to house, especially in the palace, shooting people who resisted. Five people were killed, all of them men,” he said.

Njeba expressed deep sorrow over the killings and warned against civilians being drawn into a conflict they did not create.

“Our people are in pain. These killings have to stop. Our people must not bear the consequences of an armed struggle,” he added.

Reacting to the incident, Senator Emmanuel Ngafeeson Banter "on behalf of the elected officials" of the Division, said only four people were killed in the village.

He, however, confirmed that "several persons were injured and properties hugely damaged".

He condemned "in very strong terms the attack", emphasising that: "What we need is peace, peace and peace, which is priceless. We should encourage harmonious living together". 

Senator Ngafeeson thanked the administrative authorities, who have not issued any official statement, "for timely intervention".

In the traditional government ready-made narrative for such incidents, he called on "the population to remain calm as investigations have been opened to determine the cause of skirmishes". 

Mbororos are notorious, and noted for having similar macabre clashes with villagers in Menchum Division and other parts of the North West Region, often because of farmer-grazier issues.

On some occasions, suspected separatist fighters have attacked the Mbororos, accusing them of being security informants who they claim are given weapons by government authorities to fight them.

The conflict used to be regular occurrences in the North West Region, but had for a while subsided, thanks to the various interventions by Douala-based international legal consultant and peace crusader, Ntumfor Barrister Sir Dr Nico Halle.

But last weekend’s invasion of Wowo village, still in mourning, had a dimension far from communal conflict triggered by land-grabbing.

The Mbororo invaders are not known to have had any grazier dispute with their neighbours. The likelihood that the attack led to an earlier killing of three of theirs could be attributed to separatist fighters.

Drawing from experience, the administration and security authorities in the area should have expected retaliation and pre-empted the massacre.

So, what was the "intervention," which the Senator, on "behalf of elected officials," gave kudos to the local authorities for? What action did the government authorities take when three Mbororo members were murdered? 

How did the Mbororos own guns, which have since been banned following the outbreak of conflicts in the North West and South West Regions?

Even if the three Mbororos were murdered by Wowo people, was it their place to take the laws into their hands and cause devastating damages in Wowo village?

While the nation awaits the investigation, and those of the chain of other ominous incidents keeping the country on edge, The Guardian Post challenges Yaounde to ensure the enquiries are independent, public, just and without delay so as to debunk the saying that "investigations in Cameroon are often used to tell lies," like in the Greek tale of goddess Pandora.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3657 of Tuesday December 16, 2025