Robbery : Transport Buses, Rural Zones No Longer Safe!

Homes and banks had before now been the most lucrative places for criminals in the country. But today, the act of taking property unlawfully from a person or place is taking another dimension and no place seems safe. Travellers from one city to another in the country are not sure of reaching their destinations without being stabbed, killed or have their valuables seized. After planting, farmers are not sure to be the harvesters of their crops as thieves visit farmlands overnight and harvest the sweat of others. Those selling in various markets in the country are not sure of going home with the profit of the day due to fear of assaults from thieves. Those leaving home for work are not sure of returning home to see their property intact. More dangerous is when the thieves meet somebody at home. The life of that person is at stake. It is indeed fear of the unknown.

Highway Robbery  
Those travelling along various highways in the country are caught up in the grip of robbers that have been robbing them of their belongings and even fatally stabbing some. It is becoming more dangerous to travel at night along the Yaounde-Douala and Yaounde-Bafoussam highways. Highway robbers are launching a series of attacks on interurban buses plying highways at night. Cameroon Tribune gathered that highway armed robbers have been rampaging along the stretches linking the towns of Douala, Yaounde and Bafoussam in the past weeks, killing a man in the course of one of such attacks and immobilising transport buses. In the murder case, the man was shot dead while he was in his car plying the Bafoussam-Douala road on Saturday March 11, 2023 at night. On Sunday March 12, reports have it that some armed robbers blocked the entrance to the city of Douala and robbed passengers. The incident is said to have happened around Edea.  According to eye witnesses, the modus operandi of the bandits was to throw a huge stone at the windscreen of the car, forcing the driver to stop. Once the vehicle stopped, the robbers invaded the bus and robbed passengers. Some passengers were stripped of their belongings and others physically assaulted. These attacks came on the heels of reported cases of assaults on the other highways in the country such as the Bafia-Yaounde and Yaounde-Bafoussam. Recently, a suspected gang of about ten individuals specialised in immobilizing transport buses at night on the Bafia stretch and stripping passengers of their precious belongings fell into the dragnet of security officers.

Rural Zones
The rampant rate at which stealing is taking place in the rural zones and farmlands in the country is also worrisome. It could be said that robbery in the country has been elevated to the state of an art, most particularly in rural ...