They roam the streets of Buea, Kumba, Limbe, Mundemba and Bangem on a daily basis.

Just like the South West Region, the streets of major Regional capitals in Cameroon are inundated by mentally deranged persons. These mentally deranged are found in different sexes, male and female, different colours; black and fair, different ages; old and young, different status, rich and poor and different temperament; violent and friendly among others.

As the streets, markets, abandoned buildings and even private properties are being flooded by such persons, traditional doctors, prophets, apostles, pastors and even priests, have been battling to contain this mad men phenomenon.

While traditional doctors are exploiting this group of people to prove the efficacy of their traditional medicines, prophets and apostles are using their rather precarious situations to win numerous religious fanatics into their various sects and congregations.

However, Dr. Samuel Agwe, a medical experts who specialises in mental health said the growing number of people suffering with mental problems are not caused by witchcraft or spiritual attacks like some  traditional doctors or apostles and prophets wont to say.

Going by Dr Agwe, mental derangement is a purely medical problem which can be cured if appropriate medical diagnosis and treatment are solicited.

The expert in mental diseases was speaking to reporters in Buea recently, while giving the statistics of mental problems that were handled in the Region in 2017.

According to him, some 917 persons suffering from mental imbalance were cured in the South West Region in 2017, and that over 3000 of such cases have been handled in the Region for the past three years (2015 to 2018)

“The people who were cured are people who have been taken to various churches, shrines and native doctors for solutions. In most of the churches, the prophets and apostles said their situations were spiritual.  To those who were taken to traditional doctors, they claimed it was witchcraft, but this was not the case. Most mental problems are purely medical problems, which can be resolved medically like we have been doing for the past three years, if the right diagnosis and treatment are sought,” the Medic stated.

He advised the population to always seek medical advice in such dicey situation.