Some five youths suspected by elements of the defense and security forces to be separatist fighters have been neutralized in Kwa Kwa, a village in Mbonge Subdivision along the Kumba-Mundemnba highway.
They were killed following a raid that was carried out by soldiers in the locality during the early hours of Thursday 20 May 2021. Locals revealed that soldiers stormed the village at about 1am, combing neighbourhoods.
The neutralised youths are said to be between the ages of 20-25. Locals revealed the youths are hardened marijuana consumers though not directly linked to separatist fighters in the locality. The corpses are said to have been discovered near a river in Nake, a nearby village within the same road axis.
Two of the corpses are said to have been buried beside the road in Nake while three others were taken to Kwa Kwa by their family members. Investigations cannot independently ascertain if the youths were actually marijuana consumers or if they were linked to separatist fighters.
However, Kwa Kwa has been a separatist hotspot in Meme Division since the Anglophone crisis morphed into a full-blown armed conflict. Kwa Kwa is on record as the first village where houses were razed by soldiers within the two Anglophone regions.
Separatist had in early January 2018, mounted several makeshift checkpoints along the Kwa-Kwa, Nake, Bole, Kombone villages in Mbonge. This resulted to an immediate counter attack from soldiers. The heavy exchange that ensued throughout led to the death of some soldiers. In retaliation, almost all buildings in Kwa-Kwa was set ablaze by soldiers as villagers flee to nearby bushes and other distant areas for safety.
It is still within Kwa Kwa that a worker of SOROUBAT Company, charged with the tarring of the Kumba-Ekondo-Titi stretch was shot dead and others kidnapped and released after huge ransoms.
By Doh Bertrand Nua
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