More than 30 villagers were killed in western Cameroon in a weekend attack by a rival ethnic group, the Presbyterian Church, a local NGO and a military source announced on Monday (June 27).
The massacre, during which men, women and children were burned and mutilated, was perpetrated on Saturday and Sunday in the village of Bakinjaw in the commune of Akwaya, near the Nigerian border, assured, by phone, Reverend Fonki Samuel Forba, spokesman for the Presbyterian Church of Cameroon. “More than 30 people were killed”he added.
Burned houses
This tragedy took place in the South West region, one of the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon, where a very deadly conflict has pitted armed separatist groups against the security forces for more than five years, whose civilians are the main victims. But nothing seems, for the moment, to link the massacre to this war, according to the sources contacted by Agence France-Presse who have all confirmed the same circumstances and the results.
“It all started with a land dispute between the Oliti and the Messaga Ekol of Akwaya (…) on April 29, the Oliti attacked and killed several Messaga Ekol in their farms, the Oliti then mobilized and received the support of armed men they had hired and they launched very violent, inhumane and destructive attacks against the Ekol Messaga »then said Reverend Forba in a statement.
“In these attacks, houses were burned and people burned in their homes, some were also beheaded”specifies, for its part, the Presbyterian Church.