First batch of Company Commander trainees undertake practical fieldtrip to Douala.

The trip, which went underway on Monday January 9, was the first amongst three others, which had been programmed for the SCU-GN trainees.

The SCU-GN programme, according to Deputy Course Director, Captain Asongalem Yvonne, falls in line with reforms put in place by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Paul Biya, in 2001, which aim at professionalising the Gendarmerie and give Company Commanders the specificities of their job.

The first batch is made up of 61 officers amongst whom are four from The Central African Republic, CAR, three from Congo and the rest from Cameroon.

They have been schooled on different modules such as law maintenance, anti-terrorism, judicial procedures, general military tactics, ethics and deontology amongst others.

Captain Asongalem said the courses were important in equipping the squadron on ways to relate with the population in protecting their lives and properties. The trip to Douala was therefore part of pedagogic requirements of the course. The trainees got to understand the role the Gendarmerie plays in the midst of other security units like the seaport and companies like the chocolate factory in Douala.

This was to help them know how work unfolds in such units and visualise what is expected of them in the near future, to match the theoretical knowledge acquired in class with the practical realities on the ground and the role of the Gendarmerie in fighting against crimes.

Led by the Commander of Schools and Training Centres of The National Gendarmerie, Colonel Engozo'o Sylvain, the 61 trainers made a first stop at Littoral Gendarmerie Legion in Bonanjo.

The Legion Commander, Colonel Bikele Piere Aimé, took time to present to them major causes of insecurity in the region, and how the Legion intervenes. Amongst these causes, he noted that proximity of Douala to the crisis-hit South West region has contributed enormously to increase in insecurity in the region.

He said banditry, drug trafficking, use of improvised explosions top the chat of criminal concerns in the region.

Elsewhere, at the Douala Seaport, Gendarmerie Company, Major Naami Yang, spoke of the role of the Gendarmerie in fighting pirates and other illegalities at the port.

The trainees and their leaders also visited the Naval Base.

At the chocolate factory, officials explained to the security officers the different products used in manufacturing the product, the amount produced per day, origin of materials used by the factory, hygiene and security measures just to name but these.

At the end of the trip in the Littoral region, Lt. Joycelin Boukang testified that the trip has helped her understand over 50% of what she had studied in the classrooms.

"I never knew how much the Gendarmerie works with all the patrols, intelligence in the other units to fight against crime in the Littoral region. This field trip has helped me to understand it like a perfect match of theory and practice,” Lt. Boukang said.

The SCU-GN trainees are expected to carry on with field trips to the Kribi seaport, Rapids Intervention Battalion Unit in Kribi, and other structures in Edea.