By Nalova Akua<\/p>\n
LOGONE-BIRNI, Cameroon \u2014\u00a0Zilna Mahamat, 53, was part of a team dispatched to retrieve their Mousgoum tribesmen killed during a conflict with Choa Arab herders in northern Cameroon in early August 2021.<\/p>\n
But he nearly met his doom when Choa Arabs fired gunshots at them, believing they were on a revenge mission.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to abandon the corpses there. As we ran for our dear lives, two people among us were shot dead. We were eight of us wielding arrows. We weren\u2019t going to attack them but rather understand what was happening. Those killed were our relatives. Their deaths have caused us so much pain, especially since they left behind children and widows.\u201d<\/p>\n
The deadly clashes stemmed from a seemingly minor problem: drowning a few heads of cattle in an artificial fishpond belonging to a member of the Mousgoum community.<\/p>\n
But the incident exposed a growing divide between the two communities, which dominate Cameroon\u2019s Far North Region.<\/p>\n
However, their Choa Arab neighbors view the ponds as deathtraps for their cattle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe herder blamed the Mousgoum fisherman for the death of his cattle since he owned the pond. The two started fighting, which degenerated into inter-communal clashes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zilna told Zenger News he spent FCFA 35,000 [$62] to have the bullets in his leg removed in hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe forgive the killers of our brothers. We hope that this will never happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another survivor of the attack, Bilar Mahamat, 29, said the attackers hit him with bullets around his chest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent FCFA 100,000 [$179] to treat the gunshot wounds,\u201d he told Zenger News.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is difficult for us to bear the loss of our brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent years, Cameroon has recorded ethnic clashes in its\u00a0northern<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0northwestern<\/a>\u00a0regions, often resulting in dozens of deaths and the razing down of villages.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not the first time that such conflicts are taking place,\u201d\u00a0Damian Akara Tatazo<\/a>, a senior lecturer of History at the University of Maroua, told Zenger News.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have had conflicts in the past among the Choa Arabs, Mousgoums, and even the Kotokos in northern Cameroon. This is similar to the perennial farmer-grazer conflict in some parts of Northwestern Cameroon. The conflicts stem from the scramble for natural resources, mostly arable land, which is scarce due to climate change. Each group is fighting to occupy the limited geographical space for economic activities. The conflict has no linguistic, religious, political or tribal coloration.\u201d<\/p>\n Following the conflict, the senior divisional officer for Logone and Chari Division of the Far North Region,\u00a0Ndongo Ndongo Jean Lazare<\/a>, banned gatherings of more than ten people and the movement of motorbikes between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.<\/p>\n The governor of the Far North Region, Midjiyawa Bakari, set up a commission to look into the causes of the conflict and suggest lasting solutions.<\/p>\n He visited the wounded at the hospital and handed them FCFA 100,000 [$179] each, while families of the deceased each received FCFA 500,000 [$896]from Cameroon\u2019s\u00a0President Paul Biya.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis is not an inter-tribal clash between Choa Arabs and Mousgoums,\u201d Midjiyawa told Zenger News.<\/p>\n \u201cThe conflict is driven by the scramble for land, which is becoming scarce as a result of climate change. It can occur among cattle breeders, between cattle breeders and farmers, between farmers and fishers, etc. The same conflict is occurring in Chad as we speak.\u201d<\/p>\n The fighting occurred in the same area where Boko Haram attacks\u00a0killed 13 soldiers\u00a0<\/a>in July 2021, fueling fears it could create cracks for the insurgents to strike again.<\/p>\n \u201cBoko Haram is everybody\u2019s enemy,\u201d Kamsouloum Abba Kabir, a representative of the Logone and Chari districts in Cameroon\u2019s National Assembly, told Zenger News.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it wants to strike, it doesn\u2019t choose whether you are a Kotoko, a Choa Arab or a Mousgoum \u2014 the need therefore for everyone to join forces and fight this common enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n Kabir, a Choa Arab, is also a member of a commission appointed by Bakari to solve the conflict.<\/p>\n