Buea motorbike riders clash with riot police

Irate bike riders in Buea on June 24, 2015, vandalised a Council Mini Bus, burnt tyres along the Buea-Kumba Highway and blocked traffic for several hours to protest a council decision prohibiting them from doing business within the urban centre.

They were also demanding the release of close to 100 motorbikes which have been impounded by the Buea council for several weeks now.

It all started on Monday, June 22, when the bike riders attacked elements of the Buea Municipal police force at the Mile 17 Bus Station, brutalised them and vandalised the council van. It took the intervention of security forces for the council staff to be rescued.

A comment on the Buea Council Facebook page on Tuesday morning read:

“Some clandestine commercial motorbike riders last night attacked elements of the Buea Council Municipal Police who were stationed at the Mile 17 Bus Station. They destroyed the bus of the Municipal Police in protest to the fact that their bikes are currently impounded at the Buea Council because of this illegal activity. One of the suspects is currently under detention at the Buea Central Police Station as investigations are on-going.”

After the attack, the bike riders, in the Bomaka and Muea area, are said to have held a night meeting fuelled by some promoters of clandestine transportation. During the meeting, they agreed that the Buea Council chambers be vandalised and council property destroyed so as to force Mayor Ekema Patrick Esunge to yield to their demands.

However, Buea Mayor, acting upon a tipoff, mobilised elements of law and order and cordoned the council compound. Frightened by the security presence at the council, the irate bike riders, Tuesday, June 23, mounted barricades at the Mile 17 roundabout for several hours.

Again, a message from the council read: “Violating commercial motor-bike riders embark on burning tyres on the Mile 17 – Muea tarred road in protest against the impoundment of their motor-bikes by the Buea Council. The bike riders continuously defy a municipal deliberation prohibiting commercial motor-bike business within the urban periphery.

Mayor Ekema later descended to the field to reason with the bike riders. His attempts were rubbished when the bike riders started throwing stones.

Cops of the Mobile Intervention Unit zoomed in to restore order. An exchange of stones and teargas between the striking bike riders and riot police liberated the Mile 17-Molyko stretch of the road.

The bike riders then moved to burn tyres along the Buea-Kumba stretch of the road from Bomaka to Muea, prompting the police to descend on them.

After the violent confrontation with the police, five scapegoats were nabbed and taken into police custody.

Ekema in an interview said the council will not backpedal on its decision to weed out motorbikes within Buea’s urban periphery. He insisted that the Municipal deliberation that gave limits to the circulation of commercial motorbikes must be respected.

For those whose bikes have been impounded, the mayor has asked them to come and pay the fine prescribed by law – FCFA 25,000.

Those behind the strike action will face the courts, he said. Investigations have been opened to fish out those behind the strike even as the bike riders have downed their tools.