Six individuals, including Bamenda II Divisional Officer, kidnapped on route to Nkambe

By Wilson Musa

Some Six individuals, including the Divisional Officer (DO) of Bamenda II, Nkongho Manchang, were abducted while traveling to Nkambe. The incident occurred in Tuesday February 6, 2024, in Ntumbaw, Ndu subdivision in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, a region already grappling with security challenges due to separatist activities.

The convoy, which included the Divisional Officer of Bamenda II and five others, was en route to Nkambe, to take part in the installation ceremony of a new SDO, when they were intercepted by unidentified assailants.

The perpetrators, believed to be associated with separatist groups, forcefully abducted the individuals.

A security source told CNA that they only discovered the D.Os car abandoned on the road with no sign of him. The identities of the other victims besides the Divisional Officer have not been disclosed yet.

The motive behind the kidnapping remains unclear, though such incidents often involve demands for ransom or political leverage. He is the second civil administrator to be kidnapped in the North West region since the crisis started in 2016.

The first was the former DO of Batibo subdivision, Namata Marcel, who was kidnapped by separatist fighters on February 11, 2018. He was later killed in captivity.

Local authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, working to identify and apprehend the perpetrators.

This kidnapping adds to the ongoing security challenges in the Northwest Region, where separatist groups have been active for years, leading to clashes with security forces and causing displacement among civilians.

What happened?

The Governor of North West region Adolphe Lele had just installed the SDO of Boyo where he was transported via an helicopter.

While the governor was installing the SDO of Boyo, the helicopter took the others to Donga against tomorrow. So the helicopter came back with the governor Tuesday evening to fly to Donga tomorrow morning. Having no space to fly with the Governor, the DO who had also served in Belo, decided to take the road to Nkambe central subdivision without security.

The SDO who was to be installed tomorrow is Gorges Malgloire Bassilekin, formerly secretary general at the North West Governor’s office who was recently promoted.

It’s suspected that the DO of Bamenda II, Nicolas Nkongho Manchang who has previously served in Donga Mantung as Assistant 1 wanted to extend his relationship ties with the SDO whom they have been together in Bamenda for about 4 years.