Most of them were produced in 2011 following the Head of State’s largess that made it free.

One of the most important documents citizens should have is a National Identity Card, NIC, but some Cameroonians out of ignorance, minimise its importance.

Given the power the document commands, the Head of State decided to make its establishment free of charge in 2011 so as to encourage feed-dragging Cameroonians to establish and eventually use it to register for the 2011 presidential election.

The idea was welcomed from the Moungo through Nkam to Wouri and then Sanaga-Maritime with inhabitants chanting melodies of thanks to the Head of State.

It is said that hundreds of NIC were established each day in various police stations especially in villages were the document is little used. Rush for the document was the same in the 15 identification centres in Douala.

Stories are told of how senior citizens whose NIC expired years back rushed for the document. Others whose NIC got missing used the opportunity to establish new ones.

However, the anxiety most people had during the establishment phase was not the same when the computerised document came out. Most of them abandoned the document in various police stations.

Statistics from the Littoral Regional Delegation for National Security disclose that 111,811 NIC were abandoned in the region with over 10,000 abandoned in the 1st and 5th District Police stations, the Judicial Police and the Regional Delegation of National Security.

The abandonment of the document pushed Littoral’s Regional Delegate for National Security, Commissioner Raymond Essogo, to dispatch communiqués in media houses for owners to collect their NIC where they were established.

According to trust worthy sources in the regional delegation, few people collected the vital document after Raymond Essogo’s announcements broadcasted and published in various media houses in the region.