Boiling Anger in Malende: Residents Protest Against Military Brutality and Extortion
By Andre Momo, BaretaNews Correspondent
Malende, Mayoka LGA – Frustration and outrage reached a tipping point on Friday, May 16, as scores of residents in Malende took to the streets in a powerful protest against what they describe as systematic exploitation and human rights abuses by state forces.
Marching en masse to the office of the local Divisional Officer (DO), protesters voiced their discontent over ongoing military harassment, financial extortion, and the mistreatment of civilians—particularly women—by regime soldiers deployed in the region.
“The situation has become unbearable,” said one tearful resident. “We are forced to pay illegal taxes just to access our own farms. Whether we carry a tin of oil or a bag of produce, we are stopped and extorted.”
According to multiple testimonies, civilians are routinely compelled to pay 1,000 CFA francs per person when going to their farms and an additional 500 CFA francs when returning with goods. Those who cannot afford to pay reportedly face physical abuse and public humiliation.
“They shave our women’s hair and flog them when they have no money,” another protester recounted. “Our men are beaten and sometimes forced to eat mud as punishment.”
This wave of civil resistance echoes earlier unrest that erupted in late 2016, when thousands of young people in the region protested marginalization and exploitation, only to be met with military force—a flashpoint that helped ignite the ongoing Anglophone conflict.
On Friday, the mood was tense but resolute. Protesters demanded immediate intervention from the DO, warning that the situation risks spiraling further out of control if authorities fail to act.
The people of Malende, it appears, have reached a breaking point—no longer willing to endure the daily reality of what they describe as military terror in their own homeland.
