Vigilance committee set up in Mokolo market

Composed of merchants, their role is to alert the police in case of theft or assault.

Last Thursday, a high school teacher who was in Mokolo market lost a sum of 35.000F.Cfa. The teacher went to the food sector where a young man snatched his handbag before fleeing. 30 minutes later, the alleged thief was arrested in possession of the purse and other items. The arrest was carried out not by the police but by the members of the Vigilance Committee of Mokolo market.

"When I was screaming, a shop attendant advised me to go and meet a member of the Vigilance Committee, which was just a few meters from where my bag was stolen. I explained my problem to this member of the Vigilance Committee. He promised to alert other members of his committee, saying that everything would soon be done for the youth in question to be stopped. An hour later, I was asked to go to the police because they had caught the thief. I got my bag, but only with a sum of 20,000 and not 35.000F.Cfa," says the teacher.

Last week, another was arrested in front of the hawkers sector after snatching a ticket of 2000FCfa from the hands of a lady.

Since the beginning of last October, vigilance committees, composed mainly traders, were created in the Mokolo market to enhance the safety of persons and property. The nine Vigilance Committees are composed by an average of 50 men from the nine sectors that make up that market. Mamfouo Ghislain, a member of the team set up by the sub-prefect of Yaoundé 2nd, explains: "We found that most cases of theft registered in this market are perpetrated by people who do not engage in any activity here. When you are the victim of attack, immediately alert us the area where you are. Our team will do the rest. Before, when people were attacked, we had to wait for the police to arrive and it was not easy to get hold of the thugs. Since our installation, we have already arrested more than 20 pick-pockets who were handed over to the public security commissioner of the 2nd district for further proceedings. The installation of the members of the Vigilance Committee in Mokolo market does not reassure all traders."