Wagner Soldiers’ Attack on Cameroonian Truck Driver Sparks Outrage
The Russian soldiers attacked the Cameroonian truck driver because he did not start his truck quickly enough while plying the highway.
Truck drivers plying the highway linking Cameroon to the Central African Republic have threatened to go on strike after Russian mercenaries of the Wagner Security Group attacked one of their colleagues. The brutal attack happened in Baboua, situated 560 kilometres from Bangui in the Nana-Mambere prefecture.
The Russian soldiers attacked the Cameroonian truck driver because he did not start his truck quickly enough, witnesses said.
“The driver was beaten to the point where he could no longer drive his truck. He was forced to stop his journey in Baboua and return to Garoua-Boulai,” an official of the transport syndicate told HumAngle.
The fresh attack by Russian soldiers came three months after a Cameroonian driver was killed in Boali last year by the Wagner group, causing transborder tension. The murder resulted in the suspension of traffic on the Douala-Bangui corridor for two weeks. Truck drivers resumed after a meeting between the transport ministers of Cameroon and the Central African Republic.
“The accords concluded after the last strike have not been respected. Russian mercenaries continue to maltreat our drivers as if they are animals,” one truck owner declared in anger.
The drivers are, therefore, demanding respect of the fundamental rights of their colleagues.
“The Russians take us as their slaves or their animals which they can kill without consequences,” one truck driver said.
Truck drivers on the highway between Cameroon and the Central African Republic are threatening to strike following an attack by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Security Group on a Cameroonian colleague in Baboua.
The attack occurred because the driver did not start his truck quickly, resulting in significant injuries that forced him to return to Garoua-Boulai.
This incident follows the murder of another Cameroonian driver by Wagner forces in Boali last year, which led to a temporary halt of the Douala-Bangui corridor traffic.
Truck drivers have expressed frustration over the continued maltreatment and are demanding the respect of their fundamental rights, highlighting unresolved issues from previous accords between the two nations' transport ministers.
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