Yaounde: thief beaten to death by population
By Vera Fon
A thief has been beaten to death this May 17 at the Amour Mezam, Tongolo branch neighborhood in Yaounde, center region of Cameroon.
According to eye witnesses, the alleged thief attempted to steal a lady’s bag and phone when the agency guard intervened but was quickly stabbed in his neck and side by the robber.
“We were at the agency at about 4:30 AM and passengers who arrived were waiting for their families to come and pick them. The guy walked up to the lady with a long knife on his hand and demanded for her bag and phone. This alerted the guard who was conscious that he had to protect passengers. In an attempt to stop the thief, the thief stabbed the guard more than three times, on the neck and the side. It was on the shouting of the guard that the population was alerted and they started beating him,” a witness stated.
He was said to have a chain on the leg that was supposedly preventing him from feeling any pains or dying at first.
“He was even having a chain on his leg but no one noticed it at first. He was beaten severely from 4:30 am till about 9 am but he did not die. It was a random little girl who indicated to the population that they should cut off the chain on his leg. Immediately after they did, the thief died about 5 minutes after,” the witness indicated.
“I am a mother and will never want my child to end this way. There are several things youths can do instead of stealing, it is bad. You may end up losing your life and life continues here on earth,” a shocked woman stated.
“I am a bike rider and I left the house this morning at 4:30am and as of now I have already made F CFA 3500 and by the end of the day I would have had more. So why steal when you can do something good with your life to earn a leaving?” another witness wondered.
The Guard who was stabbed is said to be receiving treatment at a hospital in the Emana neighborhood.
The population acknowledged that theft in this neighborhood is very frequent as passengers and citizens are harassed frequently.
It is worthy of note that the said thief is said to have just come out of Prison after serving a two-year jail term.
