The colonial regime in La République du Cameroun has paraded three suspected criminals accused of vandalising public infrastructure in Kumba, the chief town of Meme County in Ambazonia’s Southern Zone. The suspects were publicly presented on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at Club No. 1 neighbourhood in Kumba II, an area along Cameroon Street, long reputed for criminal activities and drug trafficking.
According to colonial security officials, the three suspects were arrested by elements of the Kumba police corps following investigations into the destruction and theft of underground electrical cables connected to newly installed street lights along the recently completed PDVIR highway stretching from Fiango through Buea Road in Kumba. The road project, heavily publicised by the regime in Yaoundé, had significantly transformed the appearance of Meme County’s economic hub before the acts of vandalism surfaced.
Security reports revealed that the suspected gang spent several days digging up underground electrical cables intended to power the modern street light system. The suspects are accused of later burning the cables to extract copper and other valuable materials, then selling the remaining metal parts for financial gain.
The public presentation drew several colonial administrative and municipal officials, including Meme Senior Divisional Officer Ntou’ou Ndong Chamberlain; Kumba II Divisional Officer Edwin Nkenya Ngwana; Kumba City Mayor Gregory Ntemoyok Mewanu; Kumba II Mayor Chief Mbachu Jacob Kay; the Commissioner of the Kumba Central Police Station, Mboudia Clément; and other security collaborators. Scores of residents also gathered to witness the public parade of the suspects.
Speaking at the event, the Mayor of Kumba City strongly condemned the destruction of public property and urged Kumba residents to collaborate with authorities to safeguard development projects initiated in the city. He further assured the population that he would personally monitor the judicial process to ensure the suspects face prosecution and are not quietly released without trial, a practice many locals often accuse colonial authorities of encouraging through corruption and influence peddling.
Sources say the three suspects were immediately taken before the State Counsel for Meme, Mbwagbor Peter, who reportedly ordered their detention at the Kumba Principal Prison pending trial.
The incident has once more exposed growing insecurity, urban criminality, and widespread economic hardship facing many young people across Ambazonia amid the ongoing conflict and deteriorating social conditions under the occupation regime.
By Lucas Muma | BaretaNews
