Noun Division Bamoun, Tikar clash degenerates!.

The clashes had erupted Friday February 3 in Magba, after the King of the Tikars, His Majesty Soulé Ngamon III, was undressed in public and molested by the guards of the King of the Bamouns, for referring to the Sultan of Foumban as “my son”.

This was as the Sultan of the Bamouns made a stopover at the Magba traditional ruler’s palace during a royal tour.

On Saturday Friday 4, the Tikars, in retaliation, mounted barricades blocking roads and disrupting traffic.

That same day, the Sultan of Bamoun was returning to the area, our sources said, for another tour of a different village. The Bamouns, accompanying Sultan Nfonrifoum Mbombo Njoya Mouhamed Nabil, in their numbers, cleared the barricades. They are said to have then invaded the palace of the traditional ruler of Magba, partially burnt it and pulled down the Cameroon flag that was flying over the Magba traditional ruler’s palace.

A source, who did not want to be named, said “the intension of cutting down the flag was to cause people not to consider the Magba traditional ruler’s palace as a place of authority”.

“But by cutting down the flag, they were touching but Cameroon and not the individual,” our source regretted.

Some experts in the administrative issues say administrative sanctions would likely be taken against the Bamouns who perpetrated the act.

“They can be called to order, warned and if they continue with such violence, the administration will be forced to take stringent measures against such persons carrying out violent behaviours,” one of the analysts said.

“Judicial actions can also be taken. The Magba traditional ruler can also take judicial action,” our source added.

Violence in presence of Sultan

Other analysts say it is disheartening that the violence took place in the presence of the Sultan of the Bamouns.

“He was accompanying his people. It is not as if his people went and committed the act in his absence. It was committed in his presence,” the source added.

While there have not been any deaths that resulted from the clashes, we gathered from reliable sources that several people were wounded. Our sources also disclosed that three Tikars were kidnapped by the Bamouns and were only set free after the governor of the West region, Awa Fonka Augustine, who rushed to the scene to restore order, mounted pressure for their release.

                                  Origin of conflict

The Guardian Post gathered from dependable sources that the traditional ruler of Magba, had during the ceremony to welcome the Sultan of Foumban to his area of command on February 3, designated one of his notables to read the welcome speech.

But that did not go down well with the guards and notables of Foumban who were accompanying the Sultan on his tour. Apparently reasoning that the Magba traditional ruler’s decision to have one of his notables read his welcome address, was a way of undermining the authority of the Sultan of Foumban, they forced him to address the visiting Sultan.   

Meanwhile, addressing the function, the King of the Tikars referred to the visiting Foumban Sultan as “my son”.

Tempers flared on the side of the Bamoun guards immediately he referred to their Sultan as “my son”.

One of the Sultan’s heavily-built guard approached the Magba traditional ruler shouting at him, “Hey, hey, hey! What is it? The King, not your son. The King, he is your father. Who are you calling your son? No, we cannot accept that. You call the Sultan your son? Are you mad?”.

Joined by other Foumban guards and notables, they stripped the Tikars King publicly of his royal dress, cap and ordered him to sit by the side of the Sultan on the floor like a commoner!

“The Sultan was present. What did he do about it? He sat quiet,” our source regretted.

“If they had respected the decision of the Tikar King, who had designated one of his notables to read the welcome address, this incident would have been avoided,” the source disclosed further. 

“By forcing the Tikar King to go and speak, the Bamouns created the incident. Secondly, they undressed him, caused a traditional ruler to sit on the floor beside the Sultan, while his own notables were sitting on chairs. They caused another King to sit on the floor like a commoner. That is what infuriated the Tikars,” the source noted.  

Relative calm returns after Governor Awa Fonka’s visit

However, relative calm has returned to the area after the governor of the West Region, Awa Fonka Augustine, embarked on a fire-fighting mission to restore order.

The governor, accompanied by his collaborators, went to Magba to preach calm and serenity. The governor used the visit to call on security officers to search for a missing 15-year-old boy whose mother is said to be in deep pain.

Talking to The Guardian Post after going to the scene, Governor Awa Fonka said: “I addressed the Tikars at a meeting in the Divisional Officer’s office and told them to calm down; that we were handling the matter administratively”.  

Meanwhile, the Senior Divisional Officer, SDO, of Noun Division, has issued an order banning the tour of the Sultan.

There are fears that if the situation is not well handled, it may degenerate further and lead to civil strife as the Bamilikes and other tribes in the North West Region, who are Tikars, are not happy with the development.