Thousands begin fleeing Bamenda as school resumption date nears
Amba leaders' anti-people strategy pushing population to further hardship in other towns
By Martial Gnoukapasir
As September 7, 2026 approaches, Bamenda is once again witnessing a familiar pattern: packing their belongings, travelling agencies filling up, fares rising and families preparing to leave the city ahead of a lockdown reportedly called by separatist leaders.
Every year, as schools prepare to reopen in the North-West, similar lockdown announcements have become a major source of anxiety for parents, students, teachers, businesses and transport operators.
The immediate question this year is not simply whether the lockdown will affect school resumption. It is also who benefits from the continued disruption of life in Bamenda, and who bears the cost?
For years, the September lockdowns have disrupted the beginning of the academic year in the English-speaking regions. Children lose valuable learning days even before they settle into their classrooms, while parents are forced to make difficult decisions about whether to keep their children at home or send them to safer locations.
The situation is particularly worrying for children who have already lost considerable learning time because of the ongoing crisis.
With September 7 drawing closer, the latest wave of movement out of Bamenda suggests that many families are once again unwilling to take chances.
Thousands flee Bamenda as school resumption approaches
At around 11:30 a.m., queues for travel tickets remained clearly visible at several travelling agencies in Bamenda.
The sight was unusual for a time when many buses heading for Douala, Yaoundé and other towns would normally have completed their morning departures.
At some agencies, travellers were still fortunate enough to find spaces. At others, passengers were told that both morning and night journeys were already fully booked.
Some travellers said they had spent considerable amounts of money on commercial motorbike riders moving from one agency to another in search of available seats.
At several parks, luggage could be seen scattered around as passengers sat on their bags while waiting for buses.
Some had arrived hours earlier. Others said they had made bookings as far back as Saturday night, August 29.
There were also passengers who said they had been told that advance bookings were not possible.
The growing demand has created a lucrative period for some transport operators, particularly agencies with enough buses to handle the increased movement.
Some agencies were collecting money from passengers while waiting for buses expected to arrive from Douala and Yaoundé. After dropping off passengers in Bamenda, the buses would then take new passengers out of the city.
The result is a growing cycle of movement in and out of Bamenda, with some operators potentially making round trips to respond to the increased demand.
Rising fares and long waits
But leaving Bamenda is proving costly.
Passengers are not only facing higher fares but also long waiting times and uncertainty over when they will eventually depart.
At some agencies, the queues have become a test of patience.
Passengers who have waited for long periods sometimes become frustrated when someone appears to bypass the queue, speaks privately with the cashier and obtains a ticket almost immediately.
Some travellers describe this as favouritism, connections or even tribal considerations.
Yet most remain in line because, as one frustrated passenger put it in Pidgin, “Na we want travel, no be them.”
Others have resorted to sitting in beer parlours attached to some travel agencies while waiting for their buses.
Many are also glued to their phones, calling relatives and friends to explain that they remain stranded in Bamenda and have not yet secured transport.
Who benefits from the September lockdowns?
The movement raises a difficult question.
If the purpose of the lockdown is to exert political pressure, who ultimately pays the price?
The answer appears to be ordinary people.
Parents have to spend additional money to transport their families to other towns. Students lose learning time. Teachers face uncertainty. Traders and small businesses lose customers. Transport fares rise. Families are separated, sometimes for weeks.
Meanwhile, transport operators and businesses serving travellers may see an increase in activity.
This year's exodus also comes at a time when many households are already struggling with the economic consequences of years of instability.
For some families, leaving Bamenda is not a choice but a survival strategy. Parents who can afford it prefer to send their children to other towns rather than expose them to the uncertainty surrounding the beginning of the school year.
For others, however, the cost of relocation is simply too high.
Children remain the biggest losers
Perhaps the greatest concern is the impact on education.
Every September lost or disrupted means fewer opportunities for children who are already trying to catch up after years of interrupted schooling.
The recurring lockdowns have therefore created a painful cycle: schools prepare to reopen, insecurity and fear grow, families move out, children miss classes, and the academic year begins under uncertainty.
The consequences may not always be immediately visible, but they accumulate over time.
A child who misses several days every September is not simply losing days on a calendar. Those missed lessons can affect academic performance, examinations and, ultimately, future opportunities.
This is why the continued use of lockdowns around school resumption deserves serious questioning.
A city caught in another September cycle
Bamenda's current situation shows how deeply the annual September movement has become part of the city's life.
As buses fill up, fares increase and passengers wait with their luggage, another academic year is approaching under a cloud of uncertainty.
At 12:01 p.m., passengers at one of the travel agencies were still waiting to know when they would leave and when they would eventually reach their destinations.
For those travelling for the first time, there are also questions about the risks involved in arriving late in unfamiliar towns and finding accommodation and basic necessities.
The bigger question, however, goes beyond transport.
How long can Bamenda continue to lose valuable days every September?
And perhaps more importantly, who is really benefiting from a strategy that forces ordinary families to flee their homes, disrupts children's education and pushes already struggling households into additional expenses?
As September 7 approaches, the answer will once again be written on the roads leaving Bamenda — in the long queues, packed buses, rising fares and thousands of families carrying their belongings away from home.
For a city that has endured years of crisis, another September lockdown means another interruption. And once again, it is ordinary citizens, particularly schoolchildren, who appear set to carry the heaviest burden.
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