Another Explosion In Yaounde Leaves One Injured

By Clemence Nwomeh, Midrade Ndadem & Nancy Ekume

Barely two weeks after a bomb explosion at the Mokolo Market in Yaounde, another bomb explosion has been recorded again, this time around leaving one person injured.

The incident took place at around 3.00pm local time on June 12, in the same area where the first bomb blast occurred. According to eyewitnesses, an improvised explosive device, IED, was detonated few meters away from the Fire Fighting Unit Office at Mokolo Market.

Eyewitnesses told The Post that the explosive was inside a black plastic paper. “The blast was terrible and it sounded like a thunder strike and pieces of nails came out of the black plastic where it was placed,” an eyewitness said.

Police officers were present by the time The Post’s reporters arrived the scene. However, a source told The Post: “The way I am seeing this issue of bomb explosion in the Mokolo Market, it seems as if the crisis in Northwest and Southwest might extend to Yaounde. This issue brings severe fear in us because it shows that we are no longer safe in our own country because it happens constantly in the capital city.”

Investigations have been opened to determine the exact cause of the bomb. At press time, Government had not yet reacted but the Mfoundi SDO, Emmanuel Mariel Djikdent, in a communiqué, had banned deposit of plastic and other bags in public. He insisted in the communiqué that defaulters will be severely sanctioned.

This is not the first time that Yaounde is experiencing bomb blast. In 2020, several bomb blasts left many injured in Damas, Etoudi, Nsam and other areas. Investigations have always been opened, but responsibility has hardly been established.