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Adequate security measures had been taken by the Cameroon government to guarantee a safe and hitch free voting exercise especially in the troubled Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, given that the build up to the elections in these two regions had been marked by threats to councilors from secessionists.
Albeit the strict security apparatuses that were deployed to put every imminent chaotic situation under check, secessionist fighters still succeeded to stage incursions, especially in the Southwest region, which incursions took a toll on the turn of events.
According to reports, there was untold unrest in Kupe Muanenguba division of the Southwest region where activities of secessionists were reported to be at their peak on Elections Day last Sunday March 25, 2018.
According to our sources, secessionists launched an offensive on Bangem, the chief town of the Kupe Muanenguba division.
TCR gathered that the assailants succeeded to destroy a watchtower belonging to the security operatives as they attacked the public security police station and a polling station in Bangem.
Despite the tact and robustness of the assailants, they were still repelled by the diligent security and defence forces of Cameroon that were on alert, even though some harm and destruction had been inflicted.
Even though TCR could not independently authenticate figures of deaths and casualties at press time Tuesday, there were confirmations however that several lives were lost and casualties recorded.
Still in the Kupe Muanenguba division, secessionist fighters stroke at the homes of the Senior Divisional Officer as well as the Divisional Officer of Bangem on Elections Day.
According to our source, the two attacks occurred in the early hours of Sunday, March 25, 2018. At press time, details of both attacks were still very sketchy.
Our source also said that the polling station of the locality of Bangem which hosted electors for the 2018 senatorial elections, also came under siege as earlier mentioned.
We learnt that none of the voters present at the polling station at the time was affected by the assault. A witness told TCR that police asked everyone at the polling station to lie down on the ground when the attackers fired.
We further gathered that a resident of Bangem was shot when he stepped out of his home to find out what was happening.
Reports say that residents have affirmed that gunshots had been persistent in that part of the country for three days before voting day. A security expert has analyzed that the reason for the incessant gunshots was to prevent the senatorial elections from holding.
Meanwhile, in Mbengwi in the Momo division of the Northwest region, a hidden camera was discovered at a polling station therein. This camera was found by observers of the Social Democratic Front (SDF). The Governor of the North West Region was alerted and he immediately went down to the scene of the discovery. Reports said that even though this discovery did not disrupt voting, electors were scared down to their pants.
By and large, the attacks by secessionist fighters in the Southwest region played to a little extent, negatively on the elections as the region is said to have registered the highest number of abstention of electorates in the country.
For his part, the Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji, maintained that the last senatorial elections were a success and that they were carried out hitch free.
The newly appointed MINAT boss it should be noted, has been preaching dialogue to the people of the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon ever since he took over command as the boss of that ministerial portfolio
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