Mohamadou Awalou, a truck driver, was killed in November 2024 during an attack allegedly carried out by a group suspected to be connected to the Wagner Group, a private Russian security company operating in the Central African Republic.
In response to the murder, truck drivers halted their operations and blocked key highways in protest.
They resumed their activities only after engaging in dialogue with authorities from both countries.
Although the authorities have pledged to take security measures to protect them, the drivers have decided not to solely rely on government efforts and have implemented their own protection system against the threats posed by the Wagner Group, reported the Nigeria-based private media organization HumAngle.
To safeguard their lives, the truck drivers have set up a sophisticated alert system that operates via WhatsApp groups and phone calls, enabling them to quickly communicate any sightings or suspicious movements by Wagner mercenaries, who have become an increasingly unpredictable presence along the route.
The alert system proved its value last week when a truck driver traveling to Bossembele spotted Russian mercenaries in two separate locations near Yaloke and Bossembele in Cameroon.
He immediately warned his colleagues through the system, advising them to stop and “sleep in Yaloke,” a message that was strictly followed by fellow drivers.
The drivers have since become more cautious, viewing the Wagner mercenaries as “unpredictable and dangerous”.
“When you see the Wagner mercenaries on the move, you should be very careful. It is better to stop, sleep, and continue the next day,” one driver told HumAngle.
There are an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 Wagner mercenaries stationed in the Central African Republic since 2018, primarily tasked with protecting President Faustin-Archange Touadera and supporting government troops in the ongoing civil war.
The paramilitary group has been gaining a stronger foothold in Africa following the mysterious death of its former boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a plane crash in 2023, after an open fallout with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since then, the group has become more integrated into Russia’s state structures.
