The tug of war between Prime Minister Dion Ngute and Justice Minister Laurent Esso took a very disturbing dimension yesterday in Douala, the economic capital which is Minister Laurent Esso’s constituency.

The so-called premier was in Douala with the CPDM begging bowl to meet the business community but failed to observe proper protocol. The Southern Cameroonian who moonlights as prime minister and head of government arrived Douala with his own seat, red carpet, food and drinking water.

Pro Minister Esso French Cameroun media houses accused Chief Dr Dion Ngute of hating the Sawa people and by extrapolation Minister Laurent Esso as he reportedly refused to attend a CPDM Littoral close door meeting and also turned down Douala police protection during the visit.

Dion Ngute was in Douala yesterday for a number of engagements including one with the business community known as GICAM.

A senior official at the Littoral Governor’s Office told Cameroon Concord News that it was deeply regrettable that the crisis in Southern Cameroons is now tearing the ruling CPDM party apart.

In a personal attack on the Southern Cameroons pro French Cameroun political elite, a Laurent Esso aide boasted that the prime minister will soon be arrested and he will be forced to show respect for Minister Esso.

The Star Building declined to comment on the happenings in Douala.

By Fon Lawrence in Douala

Refugees in camps scattered across the South-South zone have complained of many inadequacies, especially food supply and decent accommodation.

They spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Refugees from neighbouring Cameroon, displaced by political crises, are taking refuge in many communities in Cross River.

Mr Elias Tako, leader of the Cameroonian Refugees at the Adagom Resettlement Camp, Ogoja, appealed to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to come to their aid.

Tako said that their basic needs and stipends were in short supply, adding that they are faced with several challenges in the camp.

“We have a lot of challenges, as I speak, we are yet to be paid our monthly Cash Base Intervention. Things are not moving as usual.

“In 2018 when we first came into the camp, the money was N7,200 monthly per individual. But as we speak, the stipend has reduced to N3,600, this is not encouraging at all.

“So, from January till date, it has not been easy with the refugees at the Adagom settlement in Ogoja,’’ he said.

Tako further said that the money was paid to them by UNHCR, adding that they are pleading with them to pay the arrears with a view to help them meet their needs.

He said that they were very uncomfortable at the camp, having been displaced from their ancestral homes as a result of the ongoing crises in Cameroon.

“We are grateful to the Cross River Government for accepting us and giving us a camp to settle down. We are also grateful to all the partners that have been delivering various services to us.

“If our brother country Nigeria with the support of the UNHCR can do anything possible for us to go back home, we will highly appreciate it, but back home in Cameroon, the crises is still ongoing,’’ he said.

He said that in 2020, it was Family Health International(FHI 360) that implemented health-based issues for the refugees, adding that their contract was terminated by the UNHCR in 2021.

The FHI 360 is a non-profit human development organisation based in North Carolina.

According to him, the Red Cross Nigeria currently implements a healthcare programme for the refugees.

He also complained of insufficient drugs in the primary healthcare centre where the refugees go for medical attention.

Mr Edet Ene, the leader of Bakassi returnees in Cross River, said the major challenge in the camp was accommodation.

Ene also said that the housing units built by the Cross River Government to house them were destroyed on Oct, 24, 2020 by hoodlums that hijacked the #EndSARS.

He said that they were now taking refuge in a primary school even as he appealed to the government and corporate organisations to come to their aid.

In Akwa Ibom, there are over 50,085 IDPs, scattered across 15 camps.

Their leaders in separate interviews, complained of neglect, and appealed to the UNHCR, the Federal Government and the World Bank to integrate them with their families.

Mr Aston Inyang, National Coordinator, Voice of Bakassi Returnees, Migrants, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, said that several appeals were made for assistance to the IDPs.

Inyang said that letters to the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, for assistance in areas of empowerment and skills acquisition, did not receive positive response.

The letter stated inter alia: “We are Nigerians and indigenes of Akwa Ibom State, who were displaced from Bakassi Peninsula following the ceding of the Peninsula to Cameroon by the Federal Government.

“We wish to draw your attention to the issues of Bakassi Returnees of Akwa Ibom State origin.

“We have been so neglected, cheated and marginalised by your Commission regarding relief intervention, skills training and empowerment,’’ Inyang said.

Mr Ikpoto James Ikpoto, President, Voice of Bakassi Returnees, Migrants, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, also claimed that the returnees were neglected.

Ikpoto said the IDPs that were camped at Technical College Ikot Ada Idem in Ibiono Ibom LGA, are experiencing accommodation problems.

“The IDPs in Akwa Ibom State suffered unbearable conditions. As the State President of the body, I tried at least to put an anchor on them, but the burden is getting heavier,” Ikpoto said.

Mr Etim Bassey, Chairman of Bakassi Returnees in Oron, said the returnees were really passing through terrible times that required urgent intervention.

Bassey said the IDPs were scattered in the five local government areas of Oron, adding that the camps lacked adequate healthcare facilities.

He called on governments to identify the real IDPs and render assistance as a matter of urgency, “instead of dealing with political returnees.’’

The story was the same at IDPs camps at Nsit Ibom, Iko Eket, among others.

Mr Godwin Udo, member of the Bakassi Returnees in Eket expressed displeasure over several promises made by previous administrations to integrate them with their families, but nothing has been done till now.

He also alleged that there were no health facilities, potable water and that the camp had been in a deplorable state for five years.

“UN officials visited the camp severally and promised to build resettlement camp and to give us relief materials, that promise was not fulfilled,’’ he said.

Udo said that their families still live in a temporary camp at Government Primary School, Iko Eket.

The Bayelsa camp with 800 inhabitants is located at Azikoro Road, Yenagoa. It is populated by victims of flood disaster and Bakassi returnees.

According to Mr Jeremiah Jerry-Weni, leader of Bakassi returnees, the state government showed concern when they were brought to camp, but afterwards forgot them.

Jerry-Weni urged the federal and state governments to improve the standard of living in the IDPs camp.

He said that life had been very difficult for them and appealed to humanitarian organisations to assist them.

Some victims of the 2020 flood disaster in the state, now taking refuge at Igbogene IDPs camp, said most of them could not go back to their houses since they lacked the resources to relocate, hence they decided to remain in the camp.

According to an IDP, Mrs Ebiere Etifa, her children have nowhere to go since no one can assist her and the children.

She appealed to relevant authorities to address their predicament as they felt abandoned by everyone around them.

In Edo, no fewer than 2, 500 IDPs, mostly from the North-East are being taken care of by `Home for The Needy Foundation. The camp is located at Uhogua, Ovia North East Local Government Area.

Coordinator of the Foundation, Solomon Folorunsho, said the organisation is grappling with feeding the IDPs, adding that the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic worsened the situation at the camp.

He said: “It takes a lot to feed these IDPs. We got some support before, but since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have not received any assistance from anywhere; we managed to feed them; it has been God.

“Our concern here is not where these IDPs come from, but to secure their future,’’ he said.

He also solicited assistance in the areas of education as 50 of the IDPs had enrolled in various institutions of learning across the country, while 23 of them were offered admissions in the current academic session.

“As I speak with you, University of Benin has already offered admission to 20 of them. Ekiti State University gave admission to three. This figure is besides the 50 we had before.

“We don’t want them to go into crime. We are giving them education. Some are studying professional courses. They are the future of Nigeria.

“They need support. There is little we can do. Government should take over their education, pay their fees, while we remain at the background,” he said. (NANFeatures)

Source: Nigerian Observer News

Journalist Paul Chouta has been sentenced to 23 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay several million CFA francs in fines and damages after being held for two years awaiting a trial verdict in Cameroon. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) deplores this excessive and unjustified penalty which is a serious attack on press freedom.

The judge’s verdict was finally issued yesterday after being postponed 27 times. Paul Chouta, a reporter for the Cameroun Web media outlet and a whistleblower critical of the government, was the subject of a complaint brought by the novelist Calixthe Belaya alleging defamation and the publication of fake news.

The judge sentenced him to 23 months in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of 160,000 CFA francs and a further 2 million CFA francs in damages (a total of some 3,200 euros).

He was alleged to have posted online a video of her in a heated argument with a man without seeking her permission. The video lasted just a few minutes and as a result he was held for two years in pre-trial detention, the maximum sentence for the charges against him.

The time he has already served in prison is more than the sentence but he must still raise the funds to pay the financial penalties to secure his release from Yaoundé’s main jail, normally reserved for the most serious offenders.

“Not only has Paul Chouta had to face court proceedings and a long period of detention, but he must now pay an exorbitant sum to be able finally to leave prison,” said RSF. “The verdict is the culmination of a farcical case. There is no justification for such a long detention and final verdict unless it is an attempt to silence a troublesome voice. We call on Cameroon’s justice authorities to take firm action to protect freedom of news and information and to ensure that journalists have the right to fair treatment by the judicial system in the country.”

Before his detention the journalist had been the target of threats over stories that were critical of the government. In January 2019, a few months after his arrest, he was the target of a knife attack by three unidentified assailants. After his arrest, several of his close associates were also subjected to repeated intimidation attempts by the police.

Several journalists are in prison in Cameroon, where press freedom has been eroded in recent years. Amadou Vamoulké, 71, the former head of the state-owned national radio and TV broadcaster CRTV, has been held for almost five years in Kondengui prison in Yaoundé awaiting trial. The journalist Emmanuel Mbombog Mbog Matip was arrested and arbitrarily detained in August 2020 accused of publishing fake news. He has announced he will start a hunger strike from tomorrow.

Cameroon is ranked 135th out of 180 countries in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index compiled by RSF.

Source: RSF

A Plot to Bomb Fiango Market by French Cameroun Military Personnel

Following a thorough investigation and brave intelligence work of the Ambazonia Intelligence Services, The Interim Government of Ambazonia is by this statement informing the International Community and the people of Ambazonia that;

1.            An attempt to bomb Fiango Market in Kumba, Southern Cameroons, by forces loyal to the regime in Yaoundé was thwarted on Thursday, 13 May 2021. The plot was another attempt to kill innocent people, destroy property, and then deceitfully ascribe the crime to our brave self-defense forces.

2.            Mr Biya’s tribal Bulu militia, infected by HIV/AIDs and other sexually transmittable diseases, continue to pursue the genocidal agenda of the regime in Yaoundé through widespread rape and infection of Ambazonian women. Mr Biya aims, therefore, to continue the destruction of the people of Ambazonia with complete impunity.

3.            Today, the world is informed that forty-nine schoolchildren of Mendankwe Government Secondary High School have been impregnated and infected with HIV by Biya’s Bulu militia.

4.            We, the people of Southern Cameroons, reserve the right to defend ourselves. However, as a people, we remain committed to peace and are prepared to engage with the regime in Yaoundé to find a peaceful solution to the conflict between our two nations.

We continue to call for the withdrawal of Mr Biya’s rapist and genocide-perpetrating colonial occupation forces. The Interim Government of Ambazonia calls for the release of all Ambazonians that Mr Biya’s regime has taken hostage. We call on a UN Mandated International Fact-finding Mission to Ambazonia to ascertain and record atrocities committed upon our people. Only such a mission will bring all perpetrators to justice.

All Southern Cameroonians in Ground Zero must remain vigilant for acts of vandalism and blackmail by La Republique du Cameroun military. We must not be intimidated, and our focus must remain on the prize of freedom and independence.

Sincerely,

Dabney Yerima

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government Dabney Yerima has ordered Ambazonia Restoration fighters to turn the entire Southern Cameroons homeland into sheer hell for French Cameroun government forces and its so-called civil administrators.

Vice President Yerima in a statement released on Tuesday, directed all Southern Cameroons Self Defense Groups not to spare any colonial administrator and shivering French Cameroun occupation soldiers carrying out shameful and sinful attacks on the people of Ambazonia.

Appealing to the Southern Cameroons diaspora to continue to invest in the big rubbergun project, Dabney Yerima said Ambazonia fighters should set up all trunk A and trunk B roads including army camps in Southern Cameroons as their targets, and turn the area into absolute hell.

Yerima also noted that the Prime Minister Dion Ngute visit to Buea today May 19 is an act of French Cameroun provocation that will be met by unexpected surprises.

Vice President Yerima also stated that Southern Cameroonians are well prepared for the current fighting with La Republique du Cameroun and that Amba fighters have great capabilities to rely on and can put out resistance for a long period of time.

By Chi Prudence Asong

The secrets of the rivalry between Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute from Southern Cameroons and Laurent Esso, the Minister of Justice who hails from the Littoral region in French Cameroun two key figures of the Biya regime is now making headlines in Yaoundé.

It is not an ‘entente cordiale’ reported the Paris based Jeune Afrique as the senior French Cameroun political figure Laurent Esso has blatantly refused to attend cabinet meetings held at the Prime Minister’s Office ever since Dion Ngute was appointed Head of Government in 2019.

Cameroon Concord News understands Minister Esso has simply been ignoring the convocations from Joseph Dion Ngute. The Esso-Dion Ngute conflict took a dramatic turn for the worse recently when Minister Laurent Esso again refused to travel to Douala as assigned by the Prime Minister for a planned meeting with the Inter-Patronal Group last April. Dion Ngute braved the bad roads to Douala and participated in the atelier that grouped the largest union of employers in Cameroon. 

The trade unions reportedly submitted their proposals for a peaceful resolution of the Southern Cameroons crisis and announced a huge financial contribution to the reconstruction effort of towns and villages ravaged by the conflict in Ambazonia.

Dion Ngute is opposed to Laurent Esso who prefers the use of force against the people of Southern Cameroons. The two men are however among the most senior members of the current cabinet.

Ngute is 67 years old while his rival, Esso is 78.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde