A Kumba businessman, Paul Armand Ngouambe, is reportedly being hunted by security forces after escaping from a military convoy that came under attack by armed separatists while transporting him to a military facility, according to accounts gathered by The Post.
Armand, accused by soldiers of belonging to the outlawed Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, and collaborating with separatist fighters, is said to have dissapeared after months of alleged harassment, torture and repeated arrests by security forces.
A shop owner who witnessed the first incident in May 2024 told this reporter that heavily armed officers stormed the businessman’s shop in the evening and immediately demanded identification before accusing him of being an SCNC member.
“The officers said they had been looking for him and even showed his photograph on one of their phones,” the witness recounted. “He denied being part of the SCNC, explaining that people from different backgrounds simply came to his shop to buy goods. But the officers became violent.”
According to the witness, the officers allegedly beat the trader inside the shop for several minutes, punching and kicking him before dragging him into a police vehicle as curious residents gathered around the scene.
Information indicates that the businessman was subsequently taken to the police station in Kumba, where he was allegedly and interrogated over suspected links with separatist groups operating in Cameroon’s troubled Anglophone regions.
After several hours in detention, Armand was eventually released with severe injuries, including wounds which reportedly required hospital treatment for several weeks.
However, his ordeal allegedly did not end there.
Residents familiar with the matter say that towards the end of May 2024, operatives of the Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR, again visited his business premises after reportedly receiving intelligence linking him to separatist movements.
Days later, on June 3, 2024, the situation escalated dramatically when another team of BIR soldiers reportedly returned to the shop shortly before closing hours.
Sources told this reporter that the businessman was again accused of anti-state activities and alleged collaboration with separatist fighters. He was reportedly beaten, handcuffed and forced into a military vehicle.
But while the convoy was transporting him away from Kumba, armed men suspected to be separatist fighters allegedly ambushed the military vehicles along the road.
According to information gathered, heavy gunfire erupted between the attackers and the soldiers, forcing the convoy to stop.
Amid the confusion, the detained businessman reportedly escaped into nearby bushes while the soldiers exchanged fire with the attackers.
Security sources and residents later indicated that the escape further intensified suspicions against him, with some soldiers allegedly convinced that the ambush had been organised to free him from custody.
Following the incident, military personnel are said to have launched fresh operations in search of the fugitive trader.
Sources say security officers later returned repeatedly to his shop and questioned people believed to have been in contact with him. Friends and relatives reportedly went into hiding after security officers allegedly questioned and detained some individuals suspected of communicating with him.
The developments come amid continuing tensions in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, where government forces have for years battled armed separatist groups seeking the independence of the self-proclaimed state of Ambazonia.
Security crackdowns in the Northwest and Southwest regions have frequently led to allegations of arbitrary arrests, torture and enforced disappearances, accusations the Cameroonian authorities have repeatedly denied.
By Peter Tinga