Douala: Inhabitants of Camp Yabassi decry demolition of their houses

Several families in the Camp Yabassi neighborhood in the Douala II municipality are complaining that they are now homeless after their houses and shops were demolished by a man claiming ownership of 720m2 of land although the inhabitants claim they have been living there for almost sixty years now.

The demolitions which took place on November 1st led to a confrontation between the local population and security forces who had been called in to ensure that the procedure goes on hitch-free.

In spite of these efforts, the demolition took place in a chaotic environment as the locals were running helter-skelter and security forces threw teargas to disperse the crowd who tried preventing them from carrying out the demolition.

According to the locals several persons got injured and others inhaled the substance which caused them to lose consciousness:

“Some persons have been hospitalized, some people were equally arrested and we do not know their whereabouts.”

Among the victims whose houses were destroyed is a visually impaired man in his 60s:

“I was born here and inherited this house from my parents, I have all my documents that prove this land belongs to me . We were not informed about this demolition exercise.”

“ I lost three villas and two packing stores. Everything in the shops was destroyed, I do not know where my family and I will start,” a shop owner lamented.

The population decry injustice on the part of the government and the man laying claims to the land.