Cameroon: Mbat Village Devastated by Alleged Militia Attack. City, Country — Mbat, Cameroon — On February 13-14, the village of Mbat in the North-West Region of Cameroon was subjected to a attack, according to local reports. Alleged Mbororo/Fulani militia members are believed to have burned and looted the village, destroying a government-run school, a church, 205 homes, and 155 barns containing maize.
The villagers, who were left without goats, motorbikes, and provisions, were forced to flee into the bush for survival.
The attack, which caused 850 villagers to seek refuge in the wilderness, has not been prevented or addressed by Cameroon’s defense or security forces. To date, no comprehensive investigation has been launched, and the perpetrators remain unknown.
The villagers, who have lost everything, are without shelter or safety, and there has been no aid sent to them.
The incident in Mbat is part of a broader pattern of conflict and lawlessness in Cameroon’s North-West and South-West Regions (NOSO).
In January 2020, the Ngarbuh Massacre occurred in the same Donga Mantung Division, where 21 civilians were murdered and burned.
The recent sentences given to a handful of perpetrators were considered important but incommensurate with the scale of the atrocity.
The Cameroon government and security services have traditionally protected the Mbororo/Fulani herdsmen, who are implicated in the Mbat attack. Some accounts suggest that the attack was an act of revenge following a previous incident.
This underscores the urgent need for a political solution to the conflict in the NOSO.
The situation in the NOSO has been described as a “violence market,” where actors benefit financially. Armed groups, such as the Ambazonia Defence Forces and the so-called Amba Boys, extract money from civilians through checkpoints or kidnapping.
Political and military elites are also implicated in protection rackets, extortion, lucrative contracts, and trafficking arms, drugs, and people.
Civil society leaders conclude that the government’s indifference is deliberate, fostering political disenfranchisement and dismal economic and educational conditions in the Anglophone regions.
The stability and prosperity of Cameroon will remain an illusion while violence and corruption grip the nation.
There is a way forward if President Biya, who was recently re — elected, has the courage and imagination to diverge from his current destructive path.
An honest and inclusive national discussion of grievances, and constitutional dialogue could offer all Cameroonians a genuine stake in their society. Yaoundé could suggest a roadmap that establishes a timetable for concrete measures to address peace, justice, accountability, transparency, national healing, and devolution.
Further details are expected as the situation in Mbat and the broader NOSO region continues to develop.
