Following communal clashes between two ethnic groups; Esu and Mbororo, Cameroonian Authorities has deployed troops to the country’s western region to restore normalcy to the communities.
Authorities say Esu residents set several houses and property ablaze after armed youths from Mbororo killed the Traditional ruler of Esu Kum Achou Albert on Wednesday.
Esu is a village in Menchum, in the English-speaking North West region on the border with Nigeria.
It was gathered that Achou was returning from Wum, capital of the Menchum division, where he had been since March 5.
Reports say while in Wum, Achou urged residents to come together in the name of peace and return to the western provinces, where separatists have been fighting the government since 2017.
Armed men shot indiscriminately in the air, causing the traditional ruler’s automobile to stop, then opened fire on the car’s occupants, according to Abdullahi Aliou, Menchum’s highest government official.
The traditional monarch, known as the fon, was assassinated alongside his wife, according to Ndzo Augustine Kum, president of the Esu Cultural and Development Association.
The armed men are suspected Mbororo youngsters, according to Cameroon’s military, who accuse the Esu traditional ruler of doing too little to prevent his people from joining rebels and attacking the Mbororo.