Insecurity in Urban Centres: Everyone Concern

Cameroon’s urban centres are increasingly infested with criminal gangs whose members indulge in different acts of insecurity that render some parts of the towns hell to inhabitants.
The resurfacing of the armed gang in the economic capital city Douala with a group of dangerous boys who called themselves, “Les microbes”  is a serious call for concern and need for prompt action by both the administrative authorities, defence  and security forces,  as well as the local population. Videos and images of some members of the gang who were  recently arrested by elements of the National Gendarmerie and displayed in public have gone viral in traditional and social media platforms. The gang members are reputed for moving into diverse neighbourhoods  in  Douala spreading terror and there are reports of one person dead from their hideous assault in the Koumassi neighbourhood of Douala I Subdivision on September 20, 2024. They move into neighbourhoods carrying cutlasses, knives, sticks and blades, weapons they use to inflict pain on their victims through assaults and intimidation  in order to carry out robbery and burglary. The call of the local administrative authorities led by Littoral Regional Governor, Samuel Dieudonné Ivaha Diboua for collaboration with the forces of law and order to stamp out “Les microbes” phenomenon has also gone viral.
The resurgence of the dangerous “Les microbes”  gang members in Douala that comes to add to other criminal groups in the city  is a direct representation  of what is happening in Cameroon’s other major urban centres such as the political capital Yaounde, Bafoussam, Bamenda, Garoua, Ngaoundere, Bertoua and Ebolowa. In these towns, hardly does a week passes without cases of suspected  armed bandits and robbers reportedly caught. The National Police Programmes over the CRTV and newscasts in various media  organs report cases of insecurity, especially in Cameroon’s urban centres almost on a daily basis.  Criminal acts such as killings, armed rubbery, burglary, banditry and assaults some times in broad day light are reportedly rife. In fact, inhabitants of some parts of the major urban centres live in perpetual fear and uncertainty.  Some of them have came out with safety measures such as building sophisticated faces around their premises, hiring security guards, using services of security dogs, installing security cameras  and coming home early. All these measures do curb insecurity just to a limited extent. 
Tackling insecurity in urban centres goes beyond individual efforts and those of security forces. There are root causes that must be addressed and a synergy of action put in place by the different societal actors. Indeed, tackling insecurity in general and more so in urban centres is everyone’s concern. Parents and guardians stand a better chance of nipping insecurity on the bud at the level of the homes. They have to monitor the activities of their children and take prompt action to stamp out vices that can lead the children astray.  It is possible for parents to check the wanton quest for easy riches, drug and alcohol addiction, acts of thievery and other vices their children both male and female may indulge in.  The parents also have to know and control  the type of friends their children  have considering that peer influence is determinant in the behaviours of children.
From the homes, the various educational institutions, professional and vocational training centres have to take the relay in moulding exemplary citizens. In these milieus, it is possible to identify children and trainees who have indulge in uncivil and dangerous practices that make the society unsecured.  Government has been doing a lot through the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic Education to mould responsible youths. Educational and training institutions have to take the cue and enable youths they train to be salt of society to the others. 
Still at the level of government, the Ministries of Social Affairs  and Employment and Vocational Training need to intensify their actions and relay in handling the phenomenon of street children. Studies have shown that these children who flood the streets of the major urban centres in Cameroon constitute most perpetrators of armed robbery and attacks even in broad day light. The reasons for these children being on the streets are diverse. However, it is i...