Death of BIR Commander, blow to family and colleagues

The killing of Major Essama Eyenga Olivier, a commander with the Rapid Intervention Battalion in Kumba, South West region on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, is a huge loss not only for his family but also for the military corps.

Family in pains

His father who was appointed in 2021 to the general control of armies in Yaounde, is inconsolable. Colonel Séverin Eyenga was previously serving at the 21st Motorized Infantry Brigade of Buea, South-West region. He did his all to see his son rise to the ranks of Major, but will have to bury him in pain.

His wife and child will also miss him. Pictures of him and his wife show they recently just got married as a young couple bringing up a small family.

Big loss for the miliatry corps

The death of Major Essama Eyenga is also a painful experience for the Rapid Intervention Battalion, Cameroon’s Elite forces. A commander of his status killed at the war front shows that there was either a good strategy put up by the separatists or the BIR unit poorly defended an advancing enemy, leaving its commander vulnerable.

Late Major Essama, was controlling a company within the BIR Battalion. A Battalion is made up of 300 to 1200 troops usually divided into units or companies. It is one of these companies where the commander was killed.

It is the most senior ranking official killed in recent times in the ongoing armed conflict in the Anglophone regions.