Fact really is stranger than fiction. I doubt if anyone will believe this tale, but here goes! I should say as a preamble, we still feel very safe here despite what you’re about to read, so don’t be alarmed.

Saturday 6^th October, the Lamido (Chieftain) of a neighbouring village was brought to the hospital here late at night. He was extremely breathless and agitated and had a lot of body swelling. Sylvia (one of the Dutch doctors here) dealt with him, but it was not clear what the problem was. He certainly had signs of pneumonia, but also seemed to have some sort of heart problem. Anyway, he died a short time after arrival, despite Sylvia’s best attempts at resuscitation. Sylvia was clearly quite distressed by this sudden demise of an apparently fit youngish (46) man, with no clear explanation.

Two days later, Anne went into Maroua to visit the VSO office and do some shopping. One moto (motorbike) driver and one car driver (both taxis) told her that the Lamido in question had killed himself. They said he was in trouble with the law and had chosen suicide rather than face disgrace. When I mentioned this to Sylvia, she said she thought it was rubbish and nothing more than idle gossip.

Monday this week I had my French lesson with Oumarou, brother of the Zidim Lamido. Quite spontaneously he told me that the other Lamido had indeed killed himself by swallowing some kind of toxic substance. Apparently, he was involved with a local group of bandits who commit highway robbery and even murder. He had been found out and held in jail in Maroua for a couple of days, then released to be brought back later for a hearing.

Anne Poppelaars, the other Dutch doctor and chief physician here, returned from leave yesterday (16^th October) and filled us in with more details. Apparently the bandits had attempted to extort money from a local worthy, threatening him with all sorts of violence if he didn’t come up a large sum. This potential victim bypassed the local officials and went straight to a military base near Maroua. Apparently this base has been established specifically to eliminate highway robbery and the bandits responsible. James Bond lives in Cameroon – these guys are indeed licensed to kill!

A trap was set and a group of the soldiers hid in the victim’s house awaiting the bandits’ arrival. When they appeared, the soldiers fired in the air first and one of the bandits dropped to the floor, dropping his rifle as he fell. One tried to run away and was shot – dead. We’re not quite clear what happened to the third bandit. Anyway, the rifle that was dropped in the melee turned out to belong to the Lamido in question, thus explaining how he was found out.

Well, we did say Zidim is a quiet village out in the bush!