[ad_1]
Buea (Cameroon) (AFP) – "It is risky to walk in Mile 16. If the police find you there, it shoots you," said a bus driver nervously in the capital of Cameroon, before the polls Sunday.
In Mile 16, an English-speaking separatist stronghold on the outskirts of the city, heavily armed police checkpoints closely monitor incoming and outgoing traffic.
Everyone has his identity card checked and, not far from there, the elite shock troops of the Army Rapid Response Battalion monitor the wooden stalls. an abandoned market.
Authorities in Buea, engulfed by an English-speaking separatist insurgency, are prepared for violence after secessionist fighters have devoted themselves to "the war on polling day."
"There are almost as many soldiers, policemen and intelligence officers as there are civilians," said a source close to the city's security forces, which once numbered nearly 100,000. inhabitants but is now largely deserted due to the exodus of people fleeing the conflict.
A massive security operation aimed at eliminating the suspected separatists was organized in August. Some 800 presumed separatists have been evacuated, but the area remains dangerous, according to a local NGO.
Shops and houses are empty and closed along the main road. Constant military patrols set the tone of life.
– & # 39; Take a big risk & # 39; –
In the city, rapid intervention soldiers, backed up by police reinforcements, also monitor the offices of the Elecam Electoral Commission, which will organize Sunday's presidential election.
"Elecam staff could be targeted by the separatists," said one poll official who added that it was forbidden to take pictures or videos of commission staff.
"People who come to vote take big risks."
A local community activist warned that "the separatists promised the war on polling day."
"They said," If you come to vote, we will kill you, "he said, speaking under the guise of anonymity." People are scared. Many will abstain. "
Few people have voted with "80% have fled," he added.
But some voters are not appeased.
"Nothing will stop me from voting, we are not afraid the separatists are here," Benz Enow Bate said fervently.
Bate is a member of the "G20", a coalition of 20 groups that support the re-election of President Paul Biya, who is seeking a seventh term.
– it's their problem & # 39; –
Bate plans to vote in Mamfe, one of the centers of the crisis located 180 km from Buea.
He is one of the prominent figures in the region, including a minister and business leaders, who left Buea for Mamfe on Saturday under army escort.
Bate alone was guarded by a dozen soldiers including one sitting behind him and another taking the wheel of the 4×4.
The rest of his record of protection followed in a police van.
A chainsaw was installed at the back of the SUV to treat tree trunks eventually used to block the road by the separatists on Friday night.
Fighters, known to have accurate information on the movements of the army, regularly cut the roads making trips to the area painful, if not impossible.
Due to the ongoing struggle between security forces and separatists in the northwest and southwest, more than 300,000 people have been displaced, including more than 246,000 in the southwestern region alone.
"Displaced people are invited to come back and vote in their hometowns, we know that not everyone will be able to do it because of insecurity, so many people will not be able to vote, but what can we do?" said an Elecam official in Buea.
It is believed that if displaced people struggle to vote, this could favor Biya, as Anglophones have traditionally supported the main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), whose candidate Joshua Osih could suffer at the polls.
For Bate, voter of Biya, if many English speakers are dissatisfied, "it's their problem – Cameroon must move on".
