Soldiers battle police in Cameroon bar

By Ange Ngu Thomas BBC, Douala

A group of irate Cameroonian soldiers has clashed with police officers who tried to close down a bar where they were drinking after hours.

A dozen policemen attempted to seal off a bar where some 30 soldiers returning from the disputed Bakassi peninsular were on a drinking spree.

The soldiers vowed they would not move out of the bar until they had finished drinking.

Angered by what they described as contempt of their authority and services rendered to the state, the visibly drunken soldiers engaged the police officers in a fight after trading insults.

Cheering crowd

In the fierce brawl that ensued, one policeman was seriously injured while others had their uniforms completely torn.

Some of the police officers escaped virtually naked after removing their torn uniforms in a bit to hide their identity from the jeering crowd that had gathered and was cheering the bizarre fight between elements of the forces of law and order.

Last week, the senior divisional police officer in Limbe, Ngambe Robert, issued a statement calling on the police to seal off all drinking houses and snack bars that fail to close down at 2100 local time.

According to the statement, bars that stayed open late into the night were serving as hide-outs for criminals to plan their nocturnal activities.

The order threatened to seize the business licences of those who violated the law.