Douala: Gang of microbes carry out provocative attack after governor’s threats

A gang of hoodlums in the city of Douala who baptized themselves as microbes have resurfaced in other neighborhoods terrorising the populations. The new attack in the Cité des Palmieres neighborhood on October 7, 2024, came exactly 17 days after the deadly one in Bali.

The recent one has been interpreted by some victims as a direct affront to the governor of the Littoral region who on September 26, 2024, during a reconstruction of facts in Bali sent a strong warning to the microbes scattered allover over Douala, that they do not have a place in the city and will be hunted down and jailed like the 13 nabbed in Bali if they failed to repent.

“I think they are just mocking the governor who issued them severe threats that they will all be flushed out from the city by the defense and security forces. They are simply sending a message they are in control and can’t be stopped by anyone. Maybe they are also avenging their brothers arrested after the Bali attack”. A panic-stricken businessman speculated.

From their testimonies, it is evident the microbes described by the governor recently as bandits, are pulling the power strings with the administration that has for years gone after them, arresting many and incarcerated in the New Bell Central prison.

A woman selling along the road in the Cité des Palmieres neighborhood said she ran for her life when they surfaced from nowhere.

“I was traumatized because I never saw it coming, coupled with how they killed a man in Bali weeks ago. They asked me to give them all the money on me, threatening me with machetes. When they understood I didn’t have anything they left at other shops. I got up and ran for my life”.

Four persons injured were rushed to the Cité des Palmieres district hospital for medical attention.

These new attacks on the criminals put a question mark on the security dispositions put in place to protect the population as was announced by Governor Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua.

However, the chief executive officer has not yet reacted to the Cité des Palmieres attack.

It should be recalled after the Bali attack, the French consul in Douala advised his citizens to take adequate safety measures, avoid irrelevant movements, and keep late hours which would jeopardize their lives.