A sigh of relieve and celebration has welcomed the family of Christian Che Chindifor, a 31-year-old bar owner who was whisked off from his business site by a group of gendarmes from the Territorial Brigade, Bamenda. As we went investigating into the circumstances of his arrest, family sources told our reporter that it was on Monday, August 8, 2022 in the afternoon that the gendarmes stormed the bar as he was cleaning insisting he should serve them drinks, which he refused for fear his business premises can later be attacked and burnt down by separatist fighters, who would also accuse him of selling on a ghost town day (an imposed lockdown by separatist fighters to cripple economic activities in the two English speaking regions, North West and South West). When he refused to yield to their demands, they accused him of being one of the separatists. That he is one of those who has been carrying arms against the state and calling for secession. “Despite pleas for him to be set free and that he is being wrongly accused, he was still forcefully taken away”, one of the family members said.
As also narrated later by Christian Che Chindifor who explained his ordeal to one of his elder sisters; while at the Brigade, he was accused of using his beer parlor as a meeting point for separatist fighters who come to plan how to attack defense and security forces. An allegation he refused. They also accused him of belonging to a banned movement by the State, the Southern Cameroon National Council, SCNC, and that they have information that links him with the distribution of flyers that called for civil disobedience against the regime.
After spending two days at the detention unit, he was taken to the Legion and was subjected to severe torture for about six days.
“It was thanks to one of the uniform officers who had identified him to a name that was familiar to that of a midwife who had delivered his wife of a baby that our brother escaped from the most dreaded detention unit at Legion.” Said Peter (not his real name) to our reporter.
Where is Christian as we speak? Our reporter enquired further. “Our elder sister who is based in Douala heard of the incident and traveled to Bamenda, helped him to leave town immediately to an unknown destination since the uniform officers came to our compound when they noticed Christian had jumped bail. The officers promised they were going to kill him at any moment he is caught.” Our source said as he broke in tears.
It should be recalled that, the anglophone crisis now in its sixth year, began as a peaceful protests by teachers and lawyers in the North West and South West Regions, who called for equal treatment and protection of English-language education and legal systems. It later evolved into an armed struggle for an independent state called “Ambazonia.”
Human rights groups estimate that more than 5,000 people have been killed, and over 600,000 displaced since the crisis began. Schools, hospitals, and local markets, once symbols of normal life, have become battlegrounds for separatist fighters and government soldiers
