No fewer than 40 persons suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect have been arrested by the Cameroon’s military in northern part of the country.
Soldiers have also shut down a market where the suspected Boko Haram may be hiding arms.
“A gendarme [military] raid on the Maroua Central Market has led to the arrest of over 40 people,” a state radio broadcaster announced. “The arrests are in connection with th ongoing investigations into the activities of the Boko Haram group in the far north region of the country.”
In an interview with the private Danay FM radio station, Maroua businessman Wanika Baba, said many of those arrested were his peers and there was confusion in the community.
Colonel Nyemeck Pierre, who led the military raid, told VOA that the central government ordered the military action as part of its fight against Boko Haram incursions into Cameroon.
“It is the duty of the military to filter the population so that enemies do not infiltrate into Cameroon,” he said in French, adding that the matter was complicated because along the border, there were Nigerians and Cameroonians who belonged to the same families and soldiers had to try to distinguish who was a militant.
This is the first time Cameroon’s military has carried out an operation on such a large scale in a single day.
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