Famous Cameroonian Football Fan Tells How Belarusian Military Beat Him, Ordered To ‘Go To Poland’

African guy Zomo believes that Lukashenka did a bad thing to him - he called him to the border, but did not help.

Cameroonian Zomo is a celebrity in Russian football. Rigober Eumbi - this is the real name of the African - has been living in Krasnodar for several years, where he actively supported the local football club of the same name. For Euro 2020, Zomo decided to move to St. Petersburg, where he painted himself in the colors of the Russian flag and sang songs with other fans. The colorful fan was noticed, and the media began to talk about him.

A couple of weeks ago, Zomo was again in the spotlight of the media, however, the reason was rather unexpected. The Cameroonian tried to illegally enter Europe through the Belarusian-Polish border, where the migration crisis has been raging for several months. Zomo spent about three weeks in the neutral zone between the two countries, after which he was able to get in touch with a friend. On October 15, a Cameroonian posted on Instagram stating that he was stuck at the border, and soon after that Zomo was able to return to Krasnodar.

Zomo told Tribuna about what was happening on the Belarusian border, and how he managed to escape.

- Why did you decide to go to the Belarusian border?

- Many people from Africa, Afghanistan and Syria said that through the Belarusian border you can get to Poland. I needed to go to France to see my relatives.

I live in Krasnodar. My friends from Moscow called me and offered to help me get to France. I came to Moscow, where people from the Belarusian army took us to the Belarusian-Polish border.

- Did you come to the border from Minsk or Moscow?

- I came there in a car directly from Moscow, I have never been to Minsk.

- Did you pay money to cross the border?

- No, we didn't pay anything. In general, everything that happens at the border is a secret business, which the army and the police are engaged in. They take people from everywhere and bring them to the border, this is the mafia. People in Belarus do not know that the army is doing all this.

- But why are you sure that it is the Belarusian army that is doing this?

- Because those people were in military clothes, they had a military vehicle. I tell you, it is the army that does all this, it is it that brings people to the border and forces them to cross it illegally. Both the army and everyone else know that this is all illegal. Even the Belarusian government knows this.

- Can you say for sure that people from the Belarusian army took you to the border from Moscow?

- Yes, it was the Belarusian army. They were in Belarusian military uniform.

- Did you know before that there are problems on the Belarusian-Polish border, that people get stuck there?

- Many of my friends easily crossed the border. Yes, and we trusted the people from the army, who promised to safely transport us to Poland. When a military man promises you something, you believe him.

- What happened to you when you were brought to the border?

- There, the military forced us to illegally cross the border into Poland. Those who did not want to cross the border were beaten. The military cut the wire and told us to go to Poland and not return. 60 people crossed the border with me, then each went his own way.

- Who were the people with whom you crossed the border?

- They were from Afghanistan, Syria. There were women, children, elderly people - all kinds of people.

Once in Poland, I wandered through the woods there for seven days until the police arrested me. I walked all day and all night, slept in the morning. I was afraid that the locals would see me and call the police. I could not go further into the depths of Poland, because my shoes were badly torn. I was alone, eating corn and apples, drinking water from the river. Nobody helped me.

- What happened after you were arrested by the Polish police?

- They sent me back to Belarus. They just took me to the border and said - go back to Belarus.

There, the Belarusian military said that we cannot return to Moscow, we must go to Poland again. They don't want people (migrants - Tribuna.com) to go back to where they came from. The military wants to use you, they want you to cross the border every day, but you have no food left.

This is how I ended up with other [migrants] in a neutral zone, in a forest. There was no food, no water, I ate apples and corn again every day. People from the Belarusian side didn’t give us anything, they just asked - who wants to go to Poland again? If nobody dared, they beat everyone. And new people were constantly appearing (migrants - Tribuna.com).

We made a bonfire so as not to freeze. And this bonfire did us a bad favor, because when the cold suddenly changes to heat, and the heat to cold, it is unhealthy, you can get sick.

- How did you get out of the neutral zone?

- My friend told reporters about what happened to me, and the Belarusian military read about me in the media. In addition, they saw that I was very ill, and therefore decided to release me.

- How did you return to Russia?

-We found people who secretly agreed to help me get there. I was lucky to be free, but people are still arriving at the border, although nine people have already died. The more people (migrants - Tribuna.com) come there, the more will die. But people know that in France, for example, they will be able to earn more than in Russia, so they go to the border. Everyone wants to earn more, they think that in Europe they will get a chance to become successful.

- How do you feel now?

- Living in the forest is not so easy, so now I am very sick, I can not do anything. My feet still hurt. When I was in the forest, my feet were swollen, and I had to take off my shoes, and then my feet began to freeze. I also have a headache. I can't work, I can't sing (Zomo moonlights as a singer - Tribuna.com). A friend of mine is helping me with medications.

- How would you like to end our conversation?

- I want to say that Lukashenka did a bad thing to me. He himself called us to the border, but he did not help us in any way. We had no food, no water, we had nowhere to sleep, it was very cold. No people can stay in such conditions for a long time, they can die. But the [Belarusian] army did not want to solve this problem, they just beat us and said “go to Poland”, they just beat us every day.