For many, it was their last sight of Africa.
YAOUNDE, March 26 (Xinhua) -- For many, it was their last sight of Africa.
Pushed through the "Gate of No Return," thousands of Africans were shipped from the Port of Slaves in Bimbia, a seaside resort town in Limbe, Cameroon, to a life of slavery in Europe and the Americas.
Though the former slave trade site, built by Europeans, now offers a picturesque view, with fishing boats drifting on the sea beside a mangrove-lined beach, Bimbia harbors a brutal past as one of the busiest hubs for slave traders from the 17th to 19th centuries.
Enslaved Africans captured inland were held in dungeons for weeks or months until the arrival of slave ships. Mbimbi Edimo, a guide at the site for over 10 years, said the conditions in the dungeons were grim.
"About 100 to 200 chained slaves were crammed into dark, stuffy spaces," said the 38-year-old. "The dungeons were filthy. Many died."
Above the bodies in chains, the captors prayed in a chapel.
"The slave masters would pray to God in the church upstairs and then descend to the dungeons to torture and kill slaves and rape women. What a contrast," Edimo said.
Once covered with feces, vomit, urine and blood, the stone floor is now silent, and the site has become a sacred place of remembrance. It still bears traces of the slave trade, such as the chains and dungeons where enslaved people were kept.
According to a report by French media outlet France 24, more than 8,000 African Americans have identified their origins as Cameroonian, with ancestors who likely departed from the Bimbia slave port. Among them is renowned music producer Quincy Jones.
African Americans regularly visit the site to connect with their ancestors who were sold into slavery. As the world marks the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade on Tuesday, the people of Bimbia continue to grapple with slavery's inhumanity and are determined to preserve the site.
Enanga Njuku, an 81-year-old lifelong resident of Bimbia, lives about a kilometer from the slave trade site.
"The Bimbia slave trade heritage is part of history, a tradition. It is both historical and spiritual. It means a lot to us," she said. In her youth, she acted in plays about the plight of enslaved people when tourists visited the site.
"Each time I played my role, it was very emotional because it made us remember the suffering of our ancestors," she added.
For Edimo Marie Ekema, the centuries-old Bimbia slave trade site is a deeply symbolic monument of "our collective historical experience."
"It serves as a reminder of a painful yet decisive period in our history. It tells of the wickedness of man toward man," said the 38-year-old, who was buying fish from fishermen near the site.
Despite its historical significance, the site remains largely undeveloped. The road leading to it is bumpy, and the interior is unkempt.
While some advocate for its development to attract tourists, many locals fear that any major project could compromise its authenticity, said Victor Kingue Musuka, a respected traditional leader of Bonangombe, one of the three villages that make up Bimbia.
In February, the site became a point of contention between a local company and the community. The company claimed it had received government approval to restructure and develop the site, including building a monument to commemorate this dark chapter of human history.
However, indigenous residents protested, vowing to resist any attempt to alter the site.
"The place is natural. Nothing has been touched there. The artifacts remain. Any development should take place outside the site," said Musuka, 53.
"That site alone is like a mother to us, and you cannot take a mother from her children. Trying to develop or alter the site is like leading a group of people toward extinction," added 46-year-old Oscar Menken, who has lived in the village for 16 years.
In 2017, the Cameroonian government declared Bimbia a National Cultural Heritage site and has since been working toward securing its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
"We have been informed time and again that if we change the nature of the site, it will never be certified by UNESCO. That is why it has remained as it was," said Nseke Dibotti Luma, mayor of Limbe III Municipality, where Bimbia is located.
For now, any development plans have been put on hold, and the dream of transforming Bimbia into a flourishing ecotourism and World Heritage Site remains uncertain.
Often described as a "forgotten historical site of the slave trade," hidden deep in the rainforest, many hope Bimbia will not be lost to history.■