By Amos Awakum
Security forces are searching for a man, Tem Kasinah Cheghe, who has been accused of collaborating with Ambazonia separatist fighters.
Tem, who reportedly owned a store in Weh, Menchum Division of the North West Region, where he sold basic necessities and farm tools, is accused of having been selling arms to separatist fighters.
It should be noted that as the crisis in the North West and South West regions, which long escalated into an armed conflict rages on, many business persons have been bearing the brunt.
Many who have been accused of doing business with and selling supplies to separatist fighters have been arrested and detained under inhumane conditions. Some have reportedly died in detention under unclear circumstances.
In the case of Tem Kasinah Cheghe, his ordeal started when the government banned the purchase of machetes and iron rods in shops across the North West and South West regions.
This was on the premise that the separatist fighters were using machetes to carry out some of their acts within the crisis-hit regions, and the rods to fabricate weapons used in fighting against the military, such as cutting iron rods to use as bullets or manufacturing Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs.
The ban was instituted in August 2020 by the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji.
In a letter to the governors of the North West and South West regions, Atanga Nji had instructed them to ensure that no machetes and iron rods are bought from shops without the buyer giving concrete reasons for the purchase.
Atanga Nji had also instructed that before purchasing iron rods used for building, the buyer must have a project ongoing, and the construction must be legal. Meanwhile, anybody buying machetes must own a farm and or give concrete reasons for doing so.
Divisional Officers, DOs, were designated as those to grant authorisation for persons to purchase machetes and iron rods.
However, Tem Kasinah Cheghe was accused of having sold machetes and iron rods to persons who did not have authorisations from the Divisional Officer. Some of the machetes and irons are said to have been bought from Tem by separatist fighters.
After having been accused of collaborating with separatist fighters, Tem was arrested, tortured and detained. He was later released under circumstances that are still unclear.
Tem Kasinah Cheghe was supposed to have appeared in court to answer for the accusation levelled against him. But he suddenly disappeared and his whereabouts since then are unknown.
If rearrested, he will be tried in a military tribunal, under the 2014 anti-terrorism law, whose maximum punishment is the death sentence. That is if he is not killed outright, like many others who have been victims of extrajudicial killings, within the context of the armed conflict in North Wet and South Wet regions.
Cases of businessmen killed within armed conflict
It should be recalled that in September 2017 a businessman in Belo Subdivision, Boyo Division of the North West Region, popularly known as Sam Sawyer, who was crippled and on a wheelchair, was killed after the military stormed his premises. He had been accused of having separatist fighters at his shop.
The lifeless body of Sam Sawyer was later seen, beheaded, in videos and pictures that went viral on social media.
Meanwhile, on November 4, 2021 a businessman and contractor, Wara Eric, and two others had been killed in Bamenda by gunmen suspected to be Ambazonia fighters. The heavily armed gunmen had attacked and killed the businessman including two other people.
It was around midday when the gunmen stopped a car Wara and the others were in at Mbingfibie neighbourhood in Bamenda, fired bullets, ripping three of its occupants.
Wara Eric was the contractor who had just won a contract at the Bamenda II council. He also owned a bar in Bamenda.
“He had been warned several times by non-state armed groups to discontinue the contract and stop selling brewery products from Les Brasseries du Cameroun,” a source had been quoted as having said.
Another witness said, “no one can say for sure who shot them, but speculation is that they were killed by separatist fighters”.
Wara Eric was in the car with his younger brother and two others. His brother allegedly escaped with a bullet wound on his hand. Two others, one identified as a welder, died. They are said to have gone to the Council to carry out estimates.
On Tuesday, February 22, 2022, a soldier shot and killed Ibrahim Yinju Talla, a businessman and proprietor of Mawa Hotel in Bamenda and another person, Che Henry, an electrical engineer. The incident occurred at Ayaba Hotel in Bamenda.
As the armed conflict continues, the populations of the two crisis-hit regions have been decrying atrocities reportedly committed by both the military and separatist fighters. International organisations and other Western powers have called on the government to address the root cause through genuine and inclusive dialogue.
