mayo-tsanaga ravaged by boko haram: abandoned villages and state neglect
Over 50 villages deserted, thousands displaced, and the shameful absence of a state that turns a blind eye.
Boko Haram’s terror is no longer a distant threat—it has taken root in the Mayo-Tsanaga region. Originating in Nigeria’s Borno State in the early 2000s, the militant group crossed borders by 2014. The first Cameroonian locality struck was Mount Gossi in Tourou, a village about 35 km from Mokolo.
Since then, hundreds of Boko Haram fighters have occupied Mount Gossi in Tourou, escalating attacks to unprecedented levels. They burn, slaughter, loot, and kidnap. Schools, health centers, markets, places of worship, gendarmerie posts—no target is spared. A decade of violence has left villages emptied, populations massacred, and lands abandoned. Nearly 13 years after the first strikes, enduring solutions remain elusive. The silence persists. And so does the suffering in Mayo-Tsanaga.
a landscape of abandonment
The devastation spans from Mokolo to Koza, reaching Mayo-Moskota. More than 50 villages in Mayo-Tsanaga have been fully or partially deserted. Among them: Gossi, Tourou, Vizik, Ldamang, Magoumaz, Ldubam, Dinglding, Chougoulé, Oupai, Houdahai, Vouzoud, Ldama, Ziver Montagne, Houva, Gouzda Wayam, Tchébé-Tchébé, Koza, Locktcha, Toufou, Guedjele-Guibedrom, Zelevet, Krawa-Mafa, Ldaoutsaf, Merekouet, Dzamadzaf, Hitéré, Bavangola, Vreket, and Gouzou-dou.
In May 2022, Mokolo’s fifth deputy mayor, Mahadek Nicolo Nouhou, presented a grim assessment to the Minister of Public Health, Manaouda Malachie, during the Fraternal Meetings in Tourou and Mokolo: ten villages completely abandoned, two under Boko Haram control, and seven regularly targeted. Terrorists now operate almost permanently in Gossi, Toufou 1, Toufou 2, Roum, and Hitawa—villages residents have fled en masse.
Since then, the situation has worsened. “We are left to fend for ourselves. Why do our leaders and the government remain silent? Do we, the people of Mayo-Tsanaga, not count as true Cameroonian citizens?” lament residents of Tourou.
life in perpetual fear
Fear dictates daily life. By night, men flee their homes. By day, they return to work. No one sleeps safely in their beds. From Mokolo to Koza, families seek refuge in mountains and caves—risking bites from reptiles to escape the threat. Only at dawn do they descend, hoping to survive another day.
When terror strikes, the state’s response is woefully inadequate. During the June 18, 2026 attack on Ldamang and Ldubam at 2 a.m., only two soldiers were present. How can two lightly armed men confront a heavily armed terrorist group? Civil vigilance committees, armed with machetes and sticks, are forced into the frontline against assault rifles and explosives.
the silence of the elite
The local elite—administrators and high-ranking officials—remain conspicuously absent in times of crisis. They appear during election campaigns, make promises, and vanish. When Tourou burns and Koza mourns, they stay silent. This is not oversight—it is deliberate political neglect. Ministers have visited, held meetings, made speeches. Then nothing. Promises vanish in Mokolo. Attacks do not.
Mokolo yesterday. Koza the day before. Tomorrow? No one knows. No one can guarantee safety.
a humanitarian crisis deepening
More than 9,000 people displaced by Boko Haram cannot return home. The number grows with each incursion. In early June 2026 alone, the International Organization for Migration recorded 482 newly displaced individuals—78 households—fleeing attacks in Mokolo, Koza, and Mayo-Moskota. The crisis extends beyond the department. In early July 2026, a local authority in Kalfou, Mayo-Danay, reported taking in nearly 300 displaced persons from Mokolo. The journey spans over 210 km by road—a testament to the scale of the exodus as families abandon homes, land, and livelihoods in search of safety.
Those who flee lose more than their homes. They lose documents—birth certificates, national IDs—reduced to ashes with their houses. But the deepest tragedy is separation. Families scatter in panic. Parents flee without their children. Children and adolescents are left vulnerable—deprived of school, protection, and stability. Many abandon their education. Some turn to crime. Young girls face a future without hope.
an economy in ruins
Mayo-Tsanaga is emptying. Agriculture collapses. Schools close. The local economy vanishes. Without urgent action, the department faces irreversible depopulation. The state cannot afford to ignore its citizens simply because they live far from Yaoundé. How many more villages must be abandoned before this crisis becomes a national priority?
