The following story was submitted by an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) in Cameroon.
Part 1:
One fateful day, the inhabitants of Kwa-Kwa village were under a serious attack as the military forces attacked the village and were destroying and burning people’s houses.
This was on Wednesday, April 14, 2018 at about 11:45 a.m.
By this time, I was by the stream washing clothes when I overheard the gunshots. Before I could realize what was happening, people were running and I just had to run for my dear life, too.
I witnessed and watched people’s houses and properties, including ours, been burned to ashes, and no one was able to come out with anything.
It was really bad. Old grandpas and grandmas were burnt inside the houses with no mercy. The military forces showed no remorse as they sprayed bullets everywhere. Everyone was running for their dear lives.
Many innocent civilians were killed and many injured. Animals including food were all burnt to aches. The military forces came in with trunks upon trunks of soldiers and there was a serious exchange of gunfire between them and the Ambazonian forces.
It was like anyone they saw they immediately put down. The only question they asked was, “Where are those people?” And if you said you didn’t know, they just put you down.
According to them, if you told them you didn’t know, that meant you knew, and definitely they should be under you canopy.
From the stream, I abandoned everything and ran. I left the stream and couldn’t go home because the military forces were everywhere, so I managed to pass behind some houses and succeeded to jump into the arms of one mama away from our neighborhood. By then that area was free of military presence and she accepted me into her house.
We were on the floor for a good number of hours. There were sounds of gunfire everywhere. Many homes were riddled with bullets. The soldiers went to the extent to invading people’s houses, dragging out the men and killing them or taking them away. For those of us who were lucky enough, we were safe for a time, but had to run for our dear lives and seek safety in the forest.
While in the forest, we met up with others who were running from surrounding areas. But when the military soldiers invaded the forest, we were all caught.
We were packed into their trucks and were taken deeper into the forest and mistreated. We were under their custody for a number of days. No food, no water.
When they did gave us water, they would give two people a quantity that would not even be enough for a single person.
We were beaten, tortured and some were even raped. It was really bad.
Around 6 p.m. one day, when the military soldiers learnt that there were Ambazonian forces around, they all ran before the Ambazonian forces got there. We were rescued by the Ambazonian forces because they were not against us, they are for the English-speaking Cameroonians – the Southern Cameroonians. So anyone they came across who was Anglophone, they helped. That is how we were set free and lived to tell the story.
I lost everything I had. No food, no clothes, no documentation…nothing. It was difficult because I had no shelter. Many families were separated in all of the commotion and have still not been reunited. A great number of people lost their loved ones and entire families were killed. It was not easy at all.
It was a time of harvest, but the military forces set the fields on fire so there was no food for us to eat. The whole community was affected, and to date, they are still trying to recover.
When all this was happening, lots of things were running through my mind. Who would take care of my child? I said, “No, Lord. This in not my portion.” If everyone is killed, who will be left to tell the story?”
