After what it claimed were frequent attacks by separatists, Cameroon’s military has taken over the building of the roads connecting its volatile western areas to Nigeria.
According to the military, this week the rebels kidnapped eight persons, among them road workers who were leaving construction sites out of fear.
According to Cameroon, a large number of government personnel and road-building supplies are being transported from Yaounde to at least six western towns and villages that are close to the Nigerian border.
According to the military, equipment that left the capital on Tuesday included loaders, bulldozers, dump trucks, and compactors.
This week, Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo informed the legislature that President Paul Biya had directed the military engineering corps to take over the building of the road connecting the districts of Kumba and Ekondo-Titi.
Assomo claimed that after repeated armed attacks and equipment destruction by separatist gunmen, the bulk of civilian road construction engineers gave up their jobs.
He claimed that the task may be taken over by army soldiers.
Assomo stated that the military engineering corps of Cameroon is trained and has extensive expertise in erecting public edifices, including buildings and roads, in addition to its regular engagement in combat operations.
He asserted that the military can only build roads in places where it is deemed necessary or where there are active hostilities with the permission of Biya, who serves as commander in chief of the armed forces.
The route is a part of the government’s efforts to rebuild the western regions that have been destroyed by the separatist insurgency, which has resulted in 3,500 fatalities and 750,000 displaced individuals.
According to the authorities, separatist fighters kidnapped eight civilians, including road construction workers, from a bus on Monday in Ekondo-Titi.
Separatists have taken credit for the kidnappings, but they haven’t demanded ransom like they typically do when employees are abducted in western Cameroon.
The road would improve trade between Cameroon and a market of 180 million people in Nigeria, according to Mukete Ekoko, a traditional chief in Kumba, and it will also lessen poverty in border towns and villages.
He expressed his happiness that the military will be in charge of building the road.
“This is the most essential initiative for the time being to move us to the next stage, and that is why we, the chiefs, we take it so seriously and we want the authorities to know that we are grateful,” he said.
The military of Cameroon advises residents to report fighters who are harassing locals and concealing out in the neighborhood.
The 60-kilometer road will be finished in less than three months, according to the military, and it will guarantee the safety of local residents and property.
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Kumba and Ekondo-southwest Titi’s area congressman Peter Ambang asserted that when the road is built, youths who join separatists out of unemployment will have options to market their crops.
He pleaded with the lads to stop damaging the road and stated, “We have taken the engagement to tell these boys that, please, enough is enough, to please not disturb this route again.”
Armed factions that speak English have been battling since 2017 for the separation of two western regions from the rest of Cameroon and its French-speaking majority.
The military took over road development on the northern borders of Cameroon with Chad and Nigeria for the last time in 2018, after Chinese contractors abandoned the project as a result of repeated attacks from armed Boko Haram insurgents.
