By Ngembeni Wa Namaso
On Tuesday 10 September 2024, credible reports reached us that, killers had stormed the village of Erat, Ndian, Southwest region, and murdered the Traditional Chief Mr Philip Ekpo Nkwoi and his wife Veronica Ambang Mbru. They then proceeded to burn their remains in the village square; and to set the the Palace and home of another member of the community, ablaze…
The Guinea Congolian forests of Ndian – unabashedly endowed
Ndian division of the Southwest is renowned for many things; its diverse and hospitable peoples, its dance and traditions, Agro-industrial plantations (Pamol, CDC), forests resources, water resources, oil and gas, fisheries; and today – one of only two transboundary UNESCO heritage sites in Cameroon. A key endowment of Ndian division is the gift of exceptional biodiversity encapsulated in the Korup National Park, created by Presidential Decree in October 1986, becoming the first Rainforest National Park in Central Africa.
A yet inestimable trove of knowledge about this unique Lower Guinea-Congolian ecosystem of high species endemism, rests with the communities living in numerous small, isolated villages. Their knowledge has been shared with the world through numerous researchers who have come from all over the world to visit the Korup forests. One of such knowledgeable communities, whose steadfastness, geographic location, exceptional knowledge-base and accessibility, helping to keep this iconic reservoir of wildlife, and serve as a bridge to Nigeria, is the village of Ekon II or Erat, in the southern part of the park.
Our border communities – the critical gatekeepers of a nation
It should be noted that these frontier communities are a part of the reason Cameroon prevailed during the Bakassi Crisis. Not only did these communities choose to remain with the Cameroon State, after the 1961 Plebiscite, thereby bringing with them their natural resources-rich territory, these border communities continue to help Cameroon to maintain excellent relationships with our neigbour, the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Staying put, and living in these critical, but precariously isolated frontier communities like Erat and many similar Cameroonian border communities, helps maintain their romantic appeal, but more significantly, are the geo-strategic outposts of our nation. So, despite notoriously poor infrastructure, and scarce everyday necessities that many take for granted elsewhere, communities like Erat and many others along the Lower Guinea-Congolian forest ecosystems; and along the border, to as far as the extreme northern region, continue to endure alone, the pain of strategic relevance, in isolation.
The 2016 socio-political Crisis raised the stakes for isolated communities, with devastating consequences
Since 2016, with the outset of the now infamous Anglophone Crisis, these communities whose isolation, embeddedness and attachment to nature has since been an asset, are today facing unprecedented dangers, and cannot be left alone.
These peoples remain the encyclopedia of knowledge about biodiversity, about nature as a whole; as well as the sentinels of our nation. These communities, including those of the village of Erat are also the custodians of exceptional local knowledge on which security of our territory and conservation of our biodiversity will eventually depend.
But as a result of the socio-political crisis that began in 2016, the livelihoods of these communities have become precarious; schooling disrupted, farming and other use of natural resources unsafe. Even going to the streams to fetch water has become froth with unknown dangers, and even life-threatening.
So, when on this faithful Tuesday 10 September 2024, reports reached us that killers had stormed the village of Erat, murdered the Traditional Chief Mr Philip Ekpo Nkwoi and his wife Veronica Ambang Mbru, it was a tragedy waiting to happen. These killers then proceeded to burn the remains of the couple in the middle of the village to achieve maximum terror; then set the palace of the Chief and the home of another member of the community ablaze as their macabre parting gift.
The traditional Chief, Philip Ekpo Nkwoi and his wife Veronica Ambang Mbru are parents who raised eight children; seven boys and one girl; Moses, Julius, Fidelis, Augustin, Sona, Stephania, Andreas and Lydia; and many grandchildren.
The community of Ndian, of the Southwest and the country, cannot forget this exceptionally tragic occurrence and painful reality that awaits other isolated communities. We must therefore, bequeath some value to these communities, and stand by them in their loss, through appropriate remembrance. In that remembrance we must make a strong enough statement, to Chief Ekpo’s children, to the community of Erat, of Ndian and to all other isolated communities unable to defend themselves, that they are not alone to face murderous marauders and that, we stand with them in their individual and collective grief.
Since the outset of the “Anglophone Crisis” in 2016, we are all, in one way or another, living in isolation; either in our minds, our thoughts, fears and frustrations. We must therefore, in any way we can, continue to be one another’s keeper in this troubling circumstance of insecurity in exceptional biodiversity, with no conceivable end, or respite in sight.
Note: Permission for this message was granted by Mr Moses Ekpo, most senior child of the departed Traditional Chief and wife.
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