The alleged murder of a truck driver by Wagner-linked mercenaries has sparked unrest, with truck drivers staging a blockade on the vital highway between Garoua Boulai in Cameroon and Bangui, the Central African Republic’s capital.
The protest highlights tensions in the region over the activities of foreign security forces.
According to humanglemedia.com, Mohamadou Awalou, a truck driver, was killed on Nov. 18, during an attack by an armed group suspected to be connected to Russian mercenaries of the Wagner security group. Following the killing, truck drivers protested, blocking the highway on Nov. 23 to seek justice for their colleague.
Sources close to the Wagner security group denied killing the civilian, claiming another armed gang had killed the truck driver while trying to attack the Russian mercenaries who were in the area to ensure the security of some Cameroonians under distress, adding that the deceased was a victim of a stray bullet.
But a communique by the Central African Republic military had a different narrative. “The wounded driver was conveyed to hospital in Bangui where he died by Wagner fighters,” it claimed. Attacks on trucks transporting goods between the two countries had been notable, with people pointing accusing fingers at the Wagner mercenaries fighting on the side of the Central African Republic armed forces.
The attack took place in the Boali region of the country — which is on the Garoua–Boulai–Bangui corridor linking Cameroon and the Central African Republic, according to sources. The drivers have threatened to continue to block movement until the Cameroon government takes the necessary measures to secure travel along this transnational highway.
The president of the National Syndicate of Road Transporters of Cameroon, Oumarou Sahabo, however, called for the immediate suspension of activities within the border zones of Cameroon, threatening the total blockage of transportation between Cameroon and its neighbours.
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“We are demanding that the state of Cameroon assures our security and that the Cameroon army escorts our convoys right to Bangui, and this until the Central African Republic undertakes the necessary actions. We have no guarantee of our security when it is the Central African Army or Wagner security operatives escorting us,” said Alhadji Djika, the president of the Cameroon Inter-Syndicate Union of Transport.
Although the Cameroonian authorities are yet to make any statement on the situation, the Central African Republic Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, on Nov. 22, extended condolences to the family of the driver in a statement. The ministry said an investigation has been instituted to elucidate the circumstances that led to the driver’s death.
“Today, the organisation of the security of drivers and merchandise plying the Douala-Bangui corridor is a priority for the Central African government,” the statement partly read.
The Central African Republic Ministry of National Defense and the Reconstruction of the Army, also expressed its condolences to “the brotherly people of Cameroon”, condemning the incident and describing it as “acts of violence perpetrated in the village of Bogoin against a vehicle of allies that resulted in the death of Mr. Mohamadou Awalou of Cameroonian nationality”.
