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4, January 2019

UNICEF says 400,000 children in Southern Cameroons need aid ⁰

According to the United Nations Children Emergency Fund, UNICEF, some 400,000 children are in need as a result of the war in Southern Cameroons. UNICEF revealed that approximately 309, 0000 of the children (77%) are in the Northern and Southern Zones adding that some 206,000 are badly in need of immediate assistance.

The report further pointed out that since 2016, political and social instability exacerbated by sporadic violence, impacted negatively the life of the civilian population of Southern Cameroons. Correspondingly, more than 437,000 persons have been displaced.

Going by the report, the Child Protection Area of Responsibility has been activated in October, along with the activation of the other clusters. Its response strategy will focus on 4 different pillars: prevention of further abuse; response to children victims of abuse; capacity building of local actors and communities on child protection; advocacy and multisector collaboration on child protection.

By Sama Ernest

4, January 2019

Southern Cameroons War: Minister Dion Ngute’s house set on fire ⁰

Southern Cameroons fighters defending the Ndian County have set the residence of Minister Dion Ngute ablaze to protest his continued loyalty to the Biya Francophone regime in French Cameroun. Joseph Dion Ngute who also moonlights as the traditional ruler of the Barombi tribe is currently a Minister without portfolio in the Biya regime.

The massive villa was reportedly built with stolen oil money from the Bakassi Peninsular and diamond reserves in the Ndian County. The palace located in the Minister’s native Bobongo, Ekondo Titi was torched on Thursday by heavily armed Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces.

Several frontline Anglophone CPDM barons have been shortlisted for attacks including Chief Tabetando, Peter Mafany Musonge and Elvis Ngolle Ngolle. The Dion Ngute residence was burnt late in the night and gun shots were fired from behind the building. It should be recalled that Joseph Dion Ngute was attacked at the Cameroon embassy in South Africa on August 6^th 2017 while on a mission to dialogue with the Southern Cameroons Diaspora.

By Rita Akana

4, January 2019

£12million Torino star Nicolas Nkoulou eyed to solve Arsenal defensive woes ⁰

ARSENAL are considering a bid for Torino centre-back Nicolas Nkoulou, according to reports. The Cameroon international captain has excelled this season to inspire his mid-table club to the fourth-best defensive record in Serie A.

Nicolas Nkoulou has been the star in Torino’s season so far. Gunners boss Unai Emery is a fan of the former Monaco, Marseille and Lyon defender from his time as Paris Saint-Germain coach.

The Spaniard is eager to strengthen Arsenal’s shaky defence, which has already leaked 31 Premier League goals – by far the worst record among the top five teams.

And reports in Italy claim Emery has urged Emirates chiefs to sanction a bid for 28-year-old Nkoulou. Torino value the defender at around £12million, just six months after paying Lyon £3.15m for him following a successful spell on loan.

Source: The Sun

4, January 2019

Nigeria Helicopter Crashes While Fighting Extremists; 5 Dead ⁰

A Nigerian Air Force helicopter crashed in combat, killing five crew members, as fighting raged against extremists for control of the strategic town of Baga in the northeast, the military said Thursday.

The crash occurred Wednesday at Damasak in northern Borno state, according to a tweet by air force spokesman Ibikunle Daramola. Officials did not say what caused the crash.

The military has been fighting to regain control of Baga, which the extremists seized last week. The town is a key base for a multinational force fighting the extremists. Many residents have fled to the Borno state capital, Maiduguri.

The fighting for Baga has been intense, the chief of army training and operations, Maj. Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, told reporters. “It’s a ding-dong situation but we are engaging them,” he said last week. “We are not in total control but Boko Haram have not taken control of Baga, either.”

The base in Baga, close to the border with Chad, has weapons, ammunition and other equipment that are a key target for the extremists, who also overran the base in 2015.

The Islamic State West Africa Province, an offshoot of the decade-old Boko Haram extremist group and the largest IS-linked extremist group in Africa, claimed to kill or wound “dozens” of soldiers in the latest attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group that monitors extremist communiques.

Fifty-three police are missing, according to a senior police officer in Maiduguri, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Use of drones

Nigeria’s defense minister, Mannir Dan-Ali, on Wednesday reiterated the military’s commitment to ending Boko Haram’s insurgency. He spoke to the press while on his way to neighboring Chad to discuss extremist activity in border areas.

Nigeria’s government recently confirmed the extremists had begun using drones, calling it a “critical factor” in a rise in attacks against military bases. The military rarely announces death tolls, but the government in November acknowledged dozens of soldier deaths.

President Muhammadu Buhari at the time held an urgent meeting with member countries to “enhance the capacity” of the multinational force.

The nearly decade-old Boko Haram insurgency has been blamed for some 20,000 deaths and thousands of abductions. The unrest and displacement of millions of hungry people have turned northeastern Nigeria into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Source: AP

4, January 2019

Ambazonia territory becoming deserted ⁰

Towns and villages in Cameroon’s restive Anglophone regions are being deserted as battles rage between separatists and the country’s military. The fighting intensified after President Paul Biya’s New Year’s message in which he insisted that his military would neutralize separatists who refuse to lay down their arms.

A senior Cameroon military official, who did not wish to be named, warns in a report that visiting the mostly deserted northwestern town of Kumbo he will need military protection.

He says separatist fighters have been launching heavy attacks in the area and may be among the few people left on the streets.

On a ride through the streets of Kumbo, under military protection, it’s clear that most houses, markets and public places are abandoned while some homes and schools have been torched.

But Kumbo resident Mbiybe Tatah says that many locals are fleeing because they are afraid – not of separatists but of the military. They accuse Cameroon troops of burning their houses and shops in retaliation for failing to inform on separatist fighters hiding in their villages, he says.

An empty street is seen in Kumbo, Cameroon, Jan. 3, 2019.

“These armed military men just shoot at random and they term (call) people in Kumbo terrorists,” he says.

Tatah says people began fleeing after President Paul Biya’s New Year’s speech.

Many observers had expected Biya to announce the release of some separatist leaders in a bid for peace. But, he instead repeated a vow to eliminate all those who refuse to stop fighting and lay down their weapons.

The governor of the English-speaking northwest region, Deben Tchoffo, refutes claims that the military retaliates against civilians.

But he says they cannot allow separatists to terrorize people and destroy what Cameroon has built since independence.

“The head of state is still asking those that were misdirected to lay down their weapons. If not, they will be neutralized. I am therefore launching an appeal to those of the northwest region to heed to the call of the head of state. If not, they will be neutralized.”

Tchoffo says there have been many casualties since fighting intensified after Biya’s speech but he did not give figures.

Abdoul Jinguil Mussa, a crisis management expert with the Lake Chad Basin Commission, says Cameroon needs an independent body to lead peace negotiations with the separatists.

People are seen on a street of abandoned houses and stores, in Kumbo, Cameroon, Jan. 3, 2019.

“People have died on both sides of the conflict. A lot of families have been displaced, property has been destroyed. That is why we say the best solution is when both parties have agreed that they are both losing. We need both parties to sit together in good faith, let the mediator be someone neutral, someone who is going to be there for peace to reign,” Mussa said.

Cameroon’s unrest began in November 2016 when English-speaking teachers and lawyers demonstrated against the growing dominance of French in the officially bilingual country.

Separatists took over the movement and started demanding independence for the English-speaking North West and South West regions.

In October 2017, Cameroon’s separatists declared what they called the English-speaking Republic of Ambazonia and vowed no cooperation with the government in Yaounde.

Cameroon says over 1,000 people have been killed in fighting since, including 200 policemen and troops, while hundreds of thousands have fled to French-speaking regions.

Culled from the VOA

3, January 2019

Biya’s genocidal war against Southern Cameroonians is killing 20 times more civilians ⁰

The Cameroon government army has repeatedly claimed that its war in Southern Cameroons is simply against Ambazonian separatists and that it has been so careful in who it targets in its military operations. The Yaoundé regime military’s assertion is a stunning underestimation of the true human cost of French Cameroun 2-year-old war against the English speaking minority. A 6-month-long investigation by the Cameroon Concord News Group has found that Cameroon government soldiers are killing civilians in Southern Cameroons at a rate 20 times higher than its military spokesperson is admitting.

From Dadi to Batibo and from Menji to Weh including Belo, Munyenge, Kwa Kwa, Bekora and many other areas where the French Cameroun army had carried out raids against targets ostensibly linked to the Ambazonian Restoration Forces, we found that the Biya regime did not even reported how many civilians had died in the shootings.

The Cameroon army is yet to acknowledge the killing of even one Southern Cameroons civilian. Several innocent civilians killed by Francophone army soldiers weren’t counted among the deaths in a document that was made public by Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo.

This raises many troubling issues about the war currently going on in Southern Cameroons. The Cameroon government army is also greatly underreporting the number of military casualties. That also raises questions about how many soldiers the Ambazonian fighters might be killing in Southern Cameroons. Cameroon Concord News gathered from civilians and local leaders that killing of Southern Cameroons civilians by the French Cameroun army is serving as a push for Ambazonia Restoration Forces recruitment.

The Biya war keeps killing Southern Cameroon civilians

The Cameroon military has a civilian casualty’s problem. For example, even the names of the American and Kenyan missionaries killed by government troops did not appear on Minister Beti Assomo’s list. Yet, Francophone government officials acknowledge, they take the necessary precautions to ensure civilians aren’t casualties of the Ambazonia war — even though they are.

Despite claims that Yaoundé has a well organized army; it still cannot stop killing noncombatants because the French Cameroun leadership chooses to fight the Ambazonian restoration forces deep inside towns and villages and not in their assembly areas in the bushes. It is inevitable that civilians have become collateral damage.

By Chi Prudence Asong

3, January 2019

Battle For Ambazonia: Field Marshal was not killed in helicopter attack ⁰

Our chief intelligence officer in the Lebialem County has admitted that French Cameroun troops did not kill a senior Red Dragons Commander, Lekeaka Oliver known popularly as “Field Marshall” during an helicopter gun battle that the Biya CPDM crime syndicate made a talking point for success in the two-year war in Southern Cameroons.

Ambazonian Communications Secretary, Hon. Chris Anu told Southern Cameroonians recently that the Field Marshal is alive and leading military operations in the Lebialem County and even beyond. Our sources deep within the Cameroon government military also observed that the Francophone leadership was not able to confirm that Field Marshal was killed, although the army announced through its propaganda web site that Field Marshal was dead. The same web site had reported some years ago that the Cameroon army had killed Abubakar Sheku the Boko Haram leader.

Earlier intelligence from members of the Minister Tasong family led Yaoundé to believe Field Marshal had been killed. The Cameroon government army has intentionally avoided walking back its high-profile assessment of the fighting in the Lebialem County. The army said in a recent communiqué addressed to President Biya that it is targeting Red Dragons assembly areas in Lebialem.

Colonel Badjeck who also moonlights as the Cameroon army spokesperson has avoided questions on the killing of Field Marshal. We understand the modus operandi of the Red Dragons is much more complicated and provides for many ministers of war.

The Francophone dominated army, along with its corrupt leaders noted recently that the killing of the Field Marshal had dealt a significant blow to the Red Dragons. People in the know in Yaoundé have also openly opined that the army had intentionally withheld information indicating that it had not actually killed Lekeaka Oliver.

A newly announced reinforcement of French Cameroun troops to areas in Manyu near General Elokobi Njock’s village, to be used as a staging ground for attacks on Lebialem, will arrive relatively quickly, CIR has been informed.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Sama Ernest and Rita Akana

2, January 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Governor Lele LAfrique convoy attacked by Amba fighters ⁰

The convoy of the Governor of the North West region came under attack late last night as he was returning from church service, security sources have said.

At least one soldier was injured in the course of the attack but security forces succeeded to ferry the Governor safely home.

Sources say Adolphe Lele LAfrique’s convoy was attacked at 19h15 local time as he was returning from the Catholic Church Mulang where he had just attended cross over service.

Over 20 Ambazonia separatist fighters had erected barricades on the road which prompted a shootout before they retreated to their hideouts.

Police Inspector Fossi Frankline was the only member of the security forces injured in the course of the attack while it is difficult to determine if there were casualties on the part of the armed separatists.

Journal du Cameroun

2, January 2019

Biya Vows to ‘Neutralize’ Ambazonian fighters ⁰

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya said he will instruct the army to “neutralize the separatist groups” in the central African nation’s English-speaking regions if they refuse to participate in the government’s disarmament program.

“If my appeal to warmongers to lay down their weapons remains unheeded, the defense and security forces will be instructed to neutralize them,” Biya said in his New Year’s address to the nation broadcast on state TV CRTV on Monday. “I am very sensitive to their worries about their safety and their aspirations for a return to calm and normal social life.”

The conflict has left at least 400 people dead since it began two years ago. Biya started his seventh term in office last month with a call to the separatist groups to end the bloody insurgency while promising greater autonomy for the Anglophone Southwestern and Northwestern regions.

The only country in Africa with both English and French as official languages, Cameroon was split after World War I into a French-run zone and a smaller British-controlled area. They were unified in 1961, but the English-speaking minority, about a fifth of the population, has complained of marginalization for decades.

Source: Bloomberg.com

1, January 2019

Biya speaks from both sides of his mouth ⁰

Cameroon president Paul Biya says he is ready for dialogue with separatist elements to end the ongoing security crisis in the country’s English speaking regions. Biya in his New Year address to the nation said he was ready to engage with persons with goodwill to end the crisis that has been going on since October 2017.

“If my appeal to war mongers remain unheeded to, the defence and security forces will be instructed to neutralize them. I am aware of the situation and difficulties the rebels are putting the people in. “It will not continue,” Biya said. In other planks of security, the octogenarian stated that the security situation in the Far North where Boko Haram attacks are recorded had been stabilized.

It is the first time that Biya is speaking directly to the subject of dialogue. International partners and the church had long advocated this position as the only way out of the crisis.

There are no concrete clarifications on who exactly are the goodwill personalities Yaounde is willing to engage. Separatist leaders are currently facing treason and terrorism charges before a military tribunal.

The situation in the North West and South West regions worries me most…but I can assure You, it will not last for long.

President Paul Biya says he is aware of the difficulties of the population of the troubled North West and South West regions of Cameroon.

He has promised to hasten the decentralisation process and also enforce the activities of the bilingualism commission.

In the past, Biya’s Interior Minister, Paul Atanga Nji, has stressed that government was never going to enter any kind of dialogue with terrorists.

The crisis concentrated in the northwest and southwest regions have claimed scores of lives on the part of separatists and security forces. Civilians have also been killed in the line of fire.

Thousands of Cameroonians have fled the regions, some have crossed into the French side of the country whiles others fled into Nigeria.

Africa News