The people of Likoko Native Village in the Munyenge axis of Fako County are once again crying for help after weeks of what locals describe as brutal military atrocities carried out by French Cameroun occupation forces against civilians already battered by the ongoing Ambazonian war.
According to distressed villagers who spoke to BaretaNews, the suffering population now lives completely abandoned, trapped between constant confrontations involving Ambazonian restoration forces and the military of La République du Cameroun. With no functioning local administration and no traditional authority left to defend the people, villagers say they have become easy targets for military abuse.
Residents narrated that heavily armed soldiers recently stormed Likoko and forced the entire civilian population to sit under the blazing sun from morning till evening, while troops allegedly broke into homes, looted property and seized money from struggling farmers.
The villagers described the operation as one of the most terrifying raids witnessed in recent months in the Munyenge forest belt.
Beyond looting, disturbing reports emerging from the area indicate that several women and girls were allegedly sexually assaulted during the military operation. Locals claim young girls, married women and even elderly women fell victim to the violence unleashed by the soldiers.
Families in Likoko also accuse the military of operating a systematic kidnapping and ransom network. According to witnesses, before leaving the village, soldiers routinely arrest groups of civilians numbering ten or more, accusing them of collaborating with Ambazonian fighters.
The detained civilians are then allegedly held hostage while relatives are forced to pay huge sums ranging from 500,000 CFA to 1 million CFA for their release.
Villagers say every attempt to explain their innocence is met with threats and accusations from the military. Soldiers reportedly tell residents that they are “harbouring the boys” and supporting Ambazonian fighters simply because many restoration forces operate within the forest communities surrounding Munyenge.
But locals insist they are helpless civilians caught in the middle of a war they did not create.
Since Tuesday, fear has completely emptied Likoko village. Residents have fled deep into surrounding bushes and makeshift forest hideouts where they now sleep under miserable conditions, uncertain about when the next military raid may occur.
“We have nowhere to run again,” one villager lamented. “There is no peace here anymore.”
Likoko itself is already home to many displaced civilians who previously escaped violence in Munyenge town following intense clashes between Ambazonian fighters and French Cameroun troops. Many of those displaced persons had initially sought refuge in Mile 14, Likoko and Corner Water after repeated military offensives destroyed stability in the area.
Now, even those supposed safe zones are increasingly becoming dangerous as military harassment intensifies across rural communities in Fako County.
The latest reports once more expose the deep humanitarian crisis unfolding silently across Ambazonia, where civilians continue paying the heaviest price in the conflict between Ambazonian self-defence forces and the regime in Yaoundé.
For many villagers in Likoko Native, survival has now become a daily struggle between fear, displacement, hunger and military terror.
By Lucas Muma | BaretaNews
