Ediki:
Palm Wine Tapper, One Other Drown In River
By Prince Oben
A 50-year-old popular palm wine tapper whose name we got as Samuel has drowned in a river affected by fluvial floods at Ediki, a locality on the Kumba-Buea highway in Mbonge Subdivision, Meme division of the Southwest region.
He drowned alongside another man known as Alex in an attempt to get to their farms.
Efforts by villagers to rescue the duo failed as they were swept away by the floods.
As search operations mounted, the corpse of Alex was retrieved but that of the palm wine tapper was nowhere to be found at the time of this report.
Grief and consternation have overwhelmed the community following the tragedy.
Consumers of palm wine in Ediki have stated that the demise of the tapper has now left them stranded as to where they would procure quality and unadulterated palm wine.
Meanwhile, the corpse of Alex has been buried and rituals performed to avert such reoccurrence in the locality.
Many have blamed the lack of accessible roads in the area, forcing the villagers to take the risk of crossing the river even after downpour.
The village that harbours one of the sub terminals of the railway line that connects Meme division of the Southwest region and Moungo division of the Littoral region is noted for its high production of cocoa.
Ediki is equally one of the most hit localities in the crisis in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon.