Two men, aged 33 and 39 years and presented by the national gendarmerie as “famous” traffickers of human bones, were brought before the prosecutor’s office of Tchollire, in the North region, on 21 June.
“The sum of 15,000,000 CFA francs had been offered to them for the delivery of this macabre booty,” said the gendarmerie in a statement published Tuesday on its Facebook page. The two men were arrested as part of the Adamaoua-North operation (Adano) which aims to fight against big rural banditry, particularly hostage taking with ransom demands, road cutters, cattle rustling and various forms of illicit trafficking.
Cameroonian law punishes anyone who violates tombs or graves with imprisonment of 3 months to 5 years and a fine of 10,000 to 100,000 CFA francs. However, this provision of the law is far from discouraging those who traffic in human bones. The phenomenon is on the increase in the country and involves many young people attracted by the lure of profit.
