The protesting villagers say at least 300 hectares of ancestral land has been sold by “unscrupulous civil administrators in complicity with some indigenes”.

“Bakweri people have been protesting against the wanton dispossession of their lands by government officials and a network of land sellers especially in the regional chief town of Buea,” some of the protesters say. “Administrative officials have been identified as spearheads of such criminal undertakings because they defy even the Head of State's restrictions on the arbitrary sale of lands in Fako Division in particular.”

Some Bakweri villagers are of the opinion that “the entire Buea Subdivision is now for sale by administrative authorities as if to destroy the town once and for all.”

The protesting Bakweri indigenes say some local officials have created a “layout” amounting to hundreds of hectares of land in Upper Farms through the Prime Minister’s Lodge to the Government Residential Area and huge portions of the forest reserve managed by the Mount Cameroon National Park.

Esombi Vefonge Joseph, President of the Molongo Mo Wakpwe group urged authorities to help preserve the said land.

“The Bakweri Armed Resistance against the Germans took place here from 1891 to 1894. We have been jealously keeping this place since 1995. This place is not for sale. The population should know. Molongo does not need any land to sell. As you can see, we are here peacefully to tell the world that we don’t want any encroachment into our ancestral land,” he said.

Accompanied by the dreaded ‘Nganya’ cult, the Bakweri indigenes warned that they are ready to go the extra mile if the government fails to resolve the situation.

“…The government, our father, the Governor should take note. He has a lot on his hands already. We do not want to escalate matters and bring other problems that will go out of hand,” said Esombi Vefonge. “This thing has been going on for too long. I want to tell you that two years ago, we met the Regional delegate for forestry and we told her what our plans are. We told her we have been guarding this place and do not want anybody to build there. She sent some of her collaborators and they evaluated the situation. We have seen the Mayor. Before Mayor Ekema died, we met him over this problem. We cannot take laws into our hands. We want everything to be handled peacefully.  We are pleading with the mayor to leave this place to fallow. They are cutting down the trees.”

“This place is the graveyard of our heroes. We cannot wrap our hands and see people coming to build on the tombs of our forefathers. That, we will not accept.”