Gunmen Kill Police Officer

Ngufack Ntemgwa

January 20, 2023

Claim: Gunmen kill police officer in Kumba last Friday at Checkpoint. These gunmen are suspected separatist fighters.

Verdict:

Olivier Bello, a police inspector working at the Kumba central station, was shot by alleged secessionists. According to reports, the event happened at a control post in Mambanda’s Kumba III subdivision.

The act, which took place Friday on the Kumba- Tombel-Loum road, many say, came as a result of a raid carried out by the military a fortnight ago in Mukonje and Essoc.

According to eyewitness accounts, Inspector Bello was at the control post, when after seri- ous work, he then decided to take a drink in a nearby spot not far from the control checkpoint.

While drinking, we gathered, it was there that the gunmen, believed to be separatist fighters, on board three motorbikes, stormed the drinking spot and shot Bello multiple times on his stomach.

The gunshots sent fear across Mambanda with people running helter-skelter for safety. Learning of the situation, the special intervention unit of the police, known by its French accromyn, ESIR, stormed the area and turned it upside down in search of the perpetrators who had long disappeared into thin air.

Military raids Mukonje, Essoc, Mambanda

Soldiers of the 21st Support Battalion of the army, located in Fiango, Kumba, on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 10 and 11 respectively. They carried out a raid in Mambanda, Essoc and Mukonje, killing at least two separatist fighters and wounding two others.

The raid led to the death of a notorious separatist fighter, who is said to be one who killed the president of the Kumba III Commercial Motorbike Riders Association, Ojong Thomas alias Opi, in August 2022.

Source: The Guardian Post