Suspected Amba fighters kidnap Eyumojock mayor.

According to reports we gathered from a family source, Mayor Ntufam Ayamba was intercepted by the gunmen while driving along the Mbakem-Taboh Road. 

The mayor, our source added, was heading for Mamfe town. The municipal authority and local development actor is said to have been driving alone in a council Hilux vehicle. 

The gunmen, our source revealed, collected an undisclosed amount of money the mayor had on him in the vehicle and still took him to the unknown. 

Our source said the mayor had spent the entire festive period within the municipality with his family. 

Per sources in Manyu, as we went to press last night, the kidnappers are still to make any demand for ransom. 

Meantime, information we gathered is to the effect that the area where the mayor was kidnapped is not far from a small installment of soldiers guarding a bridge in the area. 

We further gleaned that a search operation has been launched by defence forces in the administrative unit. The soldiers are said to be combing the forest to secure the mayor’s release. 

Government officials, municipal authorities and other officials have been a constant target of separatist fighters since the crisis in the North West and South West Regions morphed into an armed conflict. 

With wanning support from the local population due to the repeated atrocities of separatists, the gunmen have resorted to kidnapping for ransom to fund their criminal activities on the ground. 

Mayor Ntufam Ayamba Jacques, it should be recalled, has been one of the few municipal authorities still resident within their municipalities and driving local development initiatives since the insecurity in the restive Anglophone Regions worsened.

In 2024, the mayor actively engaged a campaign to encourage massive school attendance. He had called for the full mobilisation of education stakeholders in the municipality in order to ensure effective schooling. 

The mayor also organised holiday championship for the youth of the municipality, during which he harped on the importance of education.

He had constantly decried the fact that of the 57 primary schools in the municipality, just four were operational while of 25 secondary schools, only three were functional.

Mayor Ntufam Ayamba had promised that Eyumojock Council will play its own part in accompanying the education family in the municipality to ensure effective resumption.

He said for Eyumojock to develop, children, the future of the municipality, must have access to education. Through his development strides, Eyumojock has undergone massive transformation. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3666 of Wednesday January 07, 2026