FREE AT LAST!

But so far the situation of the staff of Idabato Municipal Council, Etongo Ismael, who was reportedly abducted with the DO, is not known.

EWANE Roland, the DO of Idabato (Bakassi Peninsular) in Ndian Division, Southwest Region, was abducted by an armed group in the wee hours of October 1, 2024, and taken in a speed boat towards neighboring Nigeria. The hoodlums that abducted the DO were thought to be pirates from neighbouring Nigeria, with hideouts in the creeks, who operate in the territorial waters of Nigeria and nieghbouring countries.  The abductors threatened to kill DO if certain conditions, including the payment of a huge ransom and the liberation of some men at the Buea Prison, were not fulfilled.

Thank God the abductors finally set free the Idabato DO in the evening of Monday, March 17, 2025, though the condition under which he was released is not yet known. He was freed after spending five and a half month in the hands of his abductors, in the Nigerian creeks.

The DO of Idabato, Ewane Roland, who was living in the Idabato Council’s Guest House since there is no official residence for the local administrative authority out there, was reportedly kidnapped together with a staff of the Idabato Municipal Council, ETONGO Ismael. But so far no mention has been made of him, following the release of the DO on March 17. In fact the council staff was not mentioned in a leaked security report that circulated on the social media last evening, on the release of the DO.

Gov’t’s Policy Against The Payment Of Ransom.  But – – –

Meanwhile talking abo ransom, the Cameroon Government’s policy is against the payment of ransom to kidnappers that it terms terrorists. However, families in general across the country, always make desperate efforts to raise money to pay for ransoms, when one of theirs is kidnapped for ransom.

The family of the DO of Idabato, especially his wife, tried to do same, when he was abducted. It would be recalled that an audio recorded discussion, leaked on the social media, in which a member of the gang that kidnapped the DO, was talking with a member of DO Ewane’s family, on the ransom issue. While the abductor was threating hell if the ransom is not paid, the family member was pleading to the kidnappers to accept the amount of money that the family had been able to raise. The family explained that the DO’s wife had sold off al what they had as property to be able to raise that amount.  The family member also said they had not received any support from outside the family, in the effort to raise money to be paid as ransom. That was last year.

The DO;s wife also disclosed in a number of TV interviews  that she granted  out of frustration, that the Government was silent on the abduction of her husband, said   the kidnappers had a number of times reduced the huge amount of  money they were demanding  as ransom. The abductors had probably, initially thought that, the Cameroon Government would give something as regard the ransom payment, because the amount they initially asked was not an amount of money that a working class Cameroonian family could raise. But they apparently realized that the Government was firm on its policy not to pay ransom, and they thus started cutting down the amount demanded.

It should be noted that with the Cameroon Government being firm against the payment of ransom to abductors or kidnappers, Southwest elite that would have given financial support to the family of the abducted DO of Idabato, Ewane Roland, who hails from Kupe Muanenguba Division in the Southwest  Region were definitely afraid to do so. But as aforementioned, it is not clear as to what finally happened that the abductors agreed or decided to release the Idabato DO, yesterday.

Received By BIR

Meanwhile, upon his liberation at night fall on the blessed day of Monday, March 17, the DO of Idabato, Ewane Roland, met the Rapid Intervention Unit commonly known by the French acronym, BIR, on the Cameroon side, who took him to their camp at Jabane, another locality in the Bakassi Peninsula. The DO, Ewane Roland, was said to be in good physical condition, though he had lost weight.  The civil administrator was expected to be taken by the BIR to the Southwest Regional Headquarters, Buea, this morning of Tuesday, March 17, to meet the Governor, Bernard Okalia Bilai.

Nigerian Authorities Failed To Rescue The Abducted DO

Meanwhile, following the abduction of the Cameroonian civil administrator, Ewane Roland, the Cameroonian authorities immediately called on their Nigerian counterparts, to, within the framework of the cross – border cooperation between their two countries, try to take appropriate and prompt action to track down the kidnappers of the DO and council staff.  But the Nigerian authorities did not succeed to do that.  For one thing, if DO, Ewane Roland, was release following the intervention of Nigerian authorities or Nigerian military, it is the Nigerian authorities that would have handed him over to the Cameroonian authorities.

Southwest Governor Visited Idabato

It should also be recalled that following the abduction of the DO of Idabato, Southwest Governor, Bernard Okalia Bilai, on October 8, 2024, visited Idabato, to assess the situation on the ground. The Governor was furious that information gathered on the ground, revealed that some members of the Nigeria community in Idabato, played the role of accomplices in the abduction of the DO, Ewane Roland, and the council staff.  The Governor noted that the Nigerian Community in Idabato is as high as 95 % of the population, and have been refusing to pay taxes.  He said the Nigerians have been highly opposed to the DO , Ewane Roland, who had been insisting that they should respect the Laws in their host country, and that all those carrying out commercial  or income generating  activities, should pay  their taxes.  To the Governor, the Nigerians’ strong opposition to the payment of taxes was certainly behind the abduction of the DO by the gang from Nigeria, with the complicity of some Nigerians in Idabato.

Governor Okalai Bilai confirmed that the abducted DO was in the hands of the abductors in Nigeria, but gave no details. He however insisted that the Nigerians in Idabato, knew the hoodlums that kidnapped the DO and council staff, and took them to Niigeria.   The Governor thus blondly told them to go and bring back the DO. within 72 hours, that is three days. He however did not say what would happen if the 72hours period elapsed, when the DO had not been brought back to Idabato. The abducted DO was not brought back within 72 hours, and nothing was heard again about the Governor’s ultimatum.