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22, February 2018

Biya regime creates new military region based in Bamenda ⁰

Cameroon has a new military region created to cater for security needs in the west and northwest region, the state-owned CRTV has reported.

President Paul Biya signed directives reorganizing the country’s defense forces leading to the splitting into two of the former military region [Région militaire interarmées – RMIA] RMIA 2 which is based in Douala.

The new region becomes the fifth (RMIA 5) and is headquarted in capital of the northwest region Bamenda. It is to be headed by General Agha Robinson Ndong while General Julius Caesar Ellie has been appointed commander of its Gendarmerie region (RG5).

The measure is seen as a clear plan to deal with the raging Anglophone crisis that has rocked the country since October 2017. Separatists in the region continue to engage in deadly clashes with security forces.

Under the banner of the so-called Ambazonia republic, separatists are pushing a breakaway of the Anglophone regions (northwest and southwest) from French-majority Cameroon.

The government has insisted that the region remains secured and has declared the separatists terrorists. Last month, Nigeria deported about 47 separatists to Yaounde, the deportees included a known separatist leader, Julius Sisuku Ayuk Tabe.

Nigeria has also been bearing the brunt of the crisis in Cameroon with the continuing influx of refugees. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, has reported that thousands of people have arrived in Nigeria over the past few months.

Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis

What began in 2017 as peaceful protests by Anglophone activists against perceived marginalization by Cameroon’s Francophone-dominated elite has become the gravest challenge yet to President Paul Biya, who is expected to seek to renew his 35-years in power in an election next year.

Government repression – including ordering thousands of villagers in the Anglophone southwest to leave their homes – has driven support for a once-fringe secessionist movement, stoking a lethal cycle of violence.

The secessionists declared an independent state called Ambazonia on Oct. 1. Since then, thousands have fled to Nigeria, including 2,300 who fled in a single day on Dec. 4 fearing government reprisals after raids by separatists militants killed at least six soldiers and police officers.

At the end of World War One, Germany’s colony of Kamerun was carved up between allied French and British victors, laying down the basis for a language split that still persists.

English speakers make up less than a fifth of the population of Cameroon, concentrated in former British territory near the Nigerian border that was joined to the French-speaking Republic of Cameroon the year after its independence in 1960. French speakers have dominated the country’s politics since.

Source: Africa News

22, February 2018

Nigeria aids refugees fleeing from Southern Cameroons ⁰

More than 25,000 refugees have travelled across the border from Cameroon to Nigeria and dozens continue to arrive every week. Caritas Nigeria is appealing for urgent support to fight an emerging humanitarian crisis as a growing number of refugees have been forced to flee political upheaval and armed conflict in neighbouring Cameroon.

“The situation is dire,” said Fr Evaristus Bassey, director of Caritas Nigeria. “According to some of the refugees, they escaped on bush paths with only the clothes they were wearing.” Caritas Nigeria says assessments show more than 25,000 refugees have travelled across the border from Cameroon to Nigeria and dozens continue to arrive every week. Caritas has launched an international appeal to provide 10,000 refugees in Cross River State with food, clean water, mosquito nets and other aid.

Fr Bassey said the influx was having a serious impact on already impoverished Nigerian communities.“Many refugees are staying with relatives or friends they have known on the Nigerian side,” he said. “Typically many of these villages are rural and housing conditions are poor and congested. Some of these communities in peace time had no functional latrines except designated spots for open defecation. Water sources are from the stream.”

The armed insurgency in Cameroon is largely driven by the Ambazonian group which is demanding the full restoration of statehood for what was a former British colony in southern Cameroon from 1922 to 1961. Their objective is the dissolution of the 1961 Union of Southern Cameroon with French Cameroon.

English speaking parts of Cameroon have long complained of marginalization by the French-speaking dominated government, which has deteriorated into a brutal crackdown. Caritas Cameroon’s Fr Kisito Balla Onana said, “Our English-speaking brothers and sisters are in distress.

“Two weeks ago I went to the field with one of the bishops. We visited deserted villages where the houses were burned down. Many of their inhabitants had left and were living in extremely difficult conditions. Caritas brought them clothes, food and a small sum of money.”

Many refugees have fled their homes to Nigeria to escape the conflict which has destabilised the country and destroyed lives and livelihoods.

Caritas Nigeria says services are stretched and there is inadequate accommodation, food, water and sanitation available.“We want to urgently provide humanitarian relief to those in dire need, before this crisis becomes too monstrous and difficult to handle,” said Fr Bassey.

Caritas Nigeria conducted rapid assessments across some of the affected areas that have received a large influx of refugees from Cameroon. The assessment revealed that the Cameroonian refugees in Cross Rivers State were mostly based in the communities within Nigeria that are sharing borders with Cameroon.

Most refugees are living in host communities with relatives, in abandoned government quarters or uncompleted buildings and even open space. They have been dependent on the generosity of impoverished host communities for donations of food and clothing as most of them fled for their lives.

“Caritas Nigeria carried out an assessment two years ago on the Oban corridor in 18 communities because of an environmental program we wanted to initiate,” Fr Bassey said. “The clean water and hygiene conditions were appalling. These are aggravated now with the present crisis.”

While Caritas has carried out assessments in Cross River State where the refugees have the largest concentration, it is seeking input and guidance in other areas where refugees are being housed.

“Caritas has already made assessments in the Oban Corridor and the Boki and Ikom axis,” said Fr Bassey. “Caritas will soon carry out market surveys and establish relationships with vendors for food vouchers. The main challenge though is that markets are far from these communities and transportation is a huge challenge in transporting materials.”

The Nigerian Church is planning a national collection and Caritas Nigeria is appealing for urgent donations of food, clothing, blankets, medicine, cooking utensils and WASH materials.

Fr Bassey said in Nigeria systems and institutions often respond quickly to a crisis but pressure from the international community might assist Nigeria to face up to the challenge over the longer term.

He said language barriers with French speaking Cameroon made co-operation challenging across borders and the Nigerian government would need a lot of support if the situation escalates into a full-blown crisis.

Source: Reliefweb.int

22, February 2018

Cameroon: SDF holds congress amid high tension ⁰

Members of Cameroon’s leading opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), are in Bamenda, the North West regional headquarters, where they are expected to attend their party’s annual congress.

The congress will be taking place amid high tension as unknown armed groups in the region are threatening to disrupt the event following criticisms by the SDF Chairperson, John Fru Ndi, of the Southern Cameroons struggle for independence. It is alleged that Mr. Fru Ndi called the President of the Republic of Ambazonia, Julius Ayuk Tabe, and his government arrested in Nigeria on January 5, 2018, and extradited to Cameroon in late January terrorists.

The armed groups, which have been killing and maiming soldiers, as well as kidnapping senior administrative officers in the region, hold that they must punish Mr. Fru Ndi who they accuse of having political intercourse with the Yaoundé government.

To ensure that the congress takes place as scheduled, the Yaounde government is providing top security to Mr. Fru Ndi, a situation that has further fueled rumor he is playing ball with Mr. Biya. Even the location of the event is heavily guarded, as the armed groups are determined to wreak havoc.

It should be recalled that the Biya government that is providing security for the SDF today, was the same government that maimed and killed many young SDF supporters in 1990 when the political party was launched because the Biya regime felt threatened that multiparty politics could sweep it out of power. It therefore declared the party launch illegal, thus creating a chaotic situation that resulted in the arrest and detention of many SDF supporters.

Similarly, due to threats, the SDF congress location has been changed as the owners of the previous location were scared that their property could be burnt down or destroyed. The SDF which has been seeking to bring the Southern Cameroons crisis to the floor of the National Assembly will finally hold its congress at the Congress Hall in Bamenda which many Cameroonians erroneously hold that it is the ruling party’s property.

The armed groups are serious. Their threat should be taken seriously. It should be recalled that last week, the Batibo Divisional Officer was kidnapped and taken into a thick forest and attempts by government officials to locate him have been futile. Not even his body has been located even when rumor had swirled that he had been killed. For now, it is believed that he is being held by Anglophone separatists who are seeking to restore their independence from the Republic of Cameroon.

It is worth mentioning that the SDF is known to be in favor of a federal system in Cameroon and the party chairman as well as other officials have always chided the government for mismanaging a problem that has metamorphosed into a crisis that has already consumed more than 500 lives, including both civilians and soldiers.

Despite the increasing tension, many political analysts hold that the SDF congress is necessary as it will enable the party chooses its candidate for this year’s presidential election. Many Cameroonians – both Francophones and Anglophones – hold that a new political class must emerge, as the old one has been a huge disappointment to the people.

For now, there are two candidates who are seeking the party’s top job. Joshua Osih and Barrister Mbah Ndam. But the congress will surely be a coronation for the young Osih who is very much respected in the country.

Mr. Joshua Osih is smart, bilingual, and patriotic, and he understands the people’s plight. After serving for long as his party’s vice-president and parliamentarian, Mr. Osih believes that this is the right time to help pull the country out of the political mess created by the Biya government.

His candidacy in the upcoming party election comes as a relief to many young Cameroonians who clearly hold that it is time to walk away from the ineffective and inefficient gerontocracy that has brought pain and death to many Cameroonians. Many young Cameroonians hold that the country needs younger hands to transform the country’s economic and political landscape and Joshua Osih has a safe pair of hands.

It is also widely believed that his understanding of both Francophone and Anglophone cultures makes him the ideal candidate for the post of president in a country that might implode if the right person does not step in. His moderate stance on many issues has earned him the respect of the entire nation.

Joshua Osih’s time has come. He is being considered as the comprise candidate even by Anglophones who have clearly demonstrated their frustration with the Yaounde government. Cameroon needs to heal and only someone with Joshau Osih’s temperament and charisma will be able to help the country walk away from its ugly past.

Meanwhile, the country’s political situation is fast deteriorating, especially as it is rumored that the country’s president, Paul Biya, is bed-ridden, having been struck down by prostate cancer and a failing heart. The ruling party is already falling apart with some of its senior officials taking a swipe at the ailing president. One would think only the young, ambitious and hungry members of the party would throw stones at the ailing president.

But things are slowly turning out differently. Chief Victor Mukete of Kumba, the Paramount chief of the Bafaw, has been taking parting shots at Mr. Biya whom he accuses of being inaccessible, ineffective and responsible for the political mess that is tearing the country apart.

The 99-year-old Mukete knows he is on his way out of politics and he is at death’s door. His senatorial appointment will no longer be renewed due to age and he thinks this is the right time for him to tell it all, at least in the interest of current and future generations.

Speaking to Jeune Afrique, the continent’s most popular French language political magazine, Nfon Mukete did not spare any punches. He pulled some of his deadliest punches against Mr. Biya who himself has been out of the public eye for months now.

Chief Mukete also castigated the Biya government for appointing less than 10 Anglophones to senior positions in the country. He decried the marginalization of Anglophones, adding that none of the Anglophones who had been prime minister under Biya had been courageous or honest enough to sound the alarm.

He regretted the chaos playing out in Southern Cameroons, stressing that the issue could have been addressed long before it got out of hand. He clearly said that he would like Cameroon to be a ten-state federation, pointing out that the current extreme centralization was an error. He pointed out that federalism would enable the people to be in charge of their destiny.

He underscored that the president would be open to such an idea, adding that he had heard people within the corridors of power saying that the president was considering it as a way out of the current political crisis.

Asked why he had not written to the president about the situation, Chief Mukete said that he was not sure the letter would ever reach him, adding that Ahidjo was more accessible than Biya and that the people around Mr. Biya had created a ring of fire around him.

By Fosuh Tamajung in Bamenda, with contributions from Kingsley Betek and Rita Akana in Yaounde.

22, February 2018

Nigerian army rescues 76 girls after Boko Haram terror attack ⁰

The Nigerian military has managed to rescue 76 schoolgirls and recovered the bodies of two others out of an estimated 90 girls who had gone missing following an attack by the Takfiri Boko Haram militant group on a school in the country’s northeast.

“Everybody is celebrating their coming with songs and praises to God almighty,” said Babagana Umar, a parent whose daughter had disappeared, on Wednesday. “The only sad news is that two girls were dead and no explanation.”

According to Umar and other residents of the small town of Dapchi in the state of Yobe, where a school was raided by the terror outfit on Monday evening, at least 13 other students may still be missing.

According to eyewitnesses, the Boko Haram militants descended on Dapchi in trucks, some with heavy guns mounted on them and painted in military camouflage. They then went straight to the Girls Science Secondary School and began shooting sporadically, forcing panicked students and teachers to flee.

There are conflicting reports about how exactly the girls went missing. Police and state officials said that 815 of the school’s 926 students had later returned to the school after fleeing into the bush outside the town during the attack.

Police and state officials said that there had been no evidence that the missing girls had been kidnapped by Boko Haram, suggesting that the rescued ones had been recovered from their hiding places.

However, the Yobe government later said in a statement that the military had rescued some of the students from the grips of the terror group.

Separately, Information Minister Lai Mohammed said Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari had on Wednesday dispatched his foreign and defense ministers to Yobe to investigate the incident.

Since 2009, the Boko Haram militancy has left at least 20,000 dead and made over 2.6 million others homeless.

Back in 2014, the Takfiri terrorist group kidnapped more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in Borno State. The mass abduction triggered global condemnation and intense criticism of Nigerian officials in the country. An international campaign dubbed “Bring Back Our Girls” was also launched.

Of the 276 students originally abducted, nearly 60 escaped soon after the incident and some others have since been released after mediation. Some 100 are still believed to remain in captivity.

Last month, the terror outfit released a video allegedly showing some of the Chibok girls still in its custody, saying they do not wish to return home.

Source: Presstv

22, February 2018

Trump considering arming US teachers after Florida school mass shooting ⁰

US President Donald trump is considering arming teachers in the country in the backdrop of a deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Trump met Wednesday with some of the survivors of the recent attack in the State Dining Room of the White House.

On February 14, 17 students and school staff were killed and 16 more were injured at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The 19-year-old shooter, identified as Nikolas Cruz, fired some 100 shots by his AR-15 rifle.

The tragic event revived the ongoing gun control issue in the country, leading to protests spearheaded by students themselves.

As the president was being censured for his great relations with the National Rifle Association (NRA) in the demonstrations, he called for arming the teachers as a way protect students.

“If you had a teacher … who was adept at firearms, it could very well end the attack very quickly,” Trump said.

The president’s “listening session” with the students and teachers, who survived the shooting rampage, was part of an effort to calm the situation.

“Some of your suggestions, I’ve heard some of them. We’re going to do something about this horrible situation that’s going on,” Trump said. “I want to listen. And then after I listen, we’re going to get things done.”

The idea of arming teachers was brought up by one parent, which Trump described as “a point we will discuss.”

“We’re going to be looking at that very strongly. And I think a lot of people are going to be opposed to it. I think a lot of people are going to like it,” he said.

Following the mass shooting, Trump expressed some narrow support for measures to tackle the country’s gun issue.

“We’re going to be very strong on background checks,” he said. “There are many ideas I have, there are many ideas that other people have, and we’re going to pick out the strongest ideas, the most important ideas.”

He further suggested that he intends to take concrete action against gun violence.

“It’s not going to be talk like it has been in the past,” Trump said.

Source: Presstv

22, February 2018

SDO of Ndop reported killed in Ambazonia Tigers attack ⁰

There are reports of an Ambazonian Tigers attack on a convoy transporting the Senior Divisional Officer (SDO) for the Ndop constituency. Images aired on social media tell of a ghastly car crash. However, a message made public by an unknown source in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia noted that the Ambazonian militants attacked the SDO’s vehicle with explosives.

Cameroon Concord News is yet to confirm the correctness of this developing story. The Cameroon government spokesman and minister of communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary has also not commented on the happenings in Ndop.

We gathered from the release that all members of the SDO’s entourage including the prefect and 4 elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR were killed.

By Chi Prudence Asong

21, February 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Family orders overseas treatment for Dr Veh Dinga-Nguh ⁰

The family of the Southern Cameroons medic, Dr Veh Dinga-Nguh shot in Bamenda yesterday by French Cameroun gendarmes has decided to evacuate her to Europe for proper treatment, Cameroon Concord News has learned.

Our Yaoundé city reporter hinted that there is a bullet stuck in her iliac bone on the pelvis. Such surgeries cannot be done in Yaoundé.

We are keeping a watchful eye on this story and we will update our readers on any latest development.

By Rita Akana

21, February 2018

Mine blast kills 2 French troopers in Mali ⁰

Two French soldiers have been killed and another hurt when their armored vehicle struck a mine in Mali, the French presidency says.

Around 4,000 French troops are deployed in Mali and neighboring countries to fight extremist groups that have staged a string of attacks and kidnappings, some targeting Western nationals.

The two soldiers were from a cavalry regiment based in Valence, a city in southeastern France, President Emmanuel Macron’s office said on Wednesday in a statement, which did not say where the attack took place.

Macron sent condolences to the soldiers’ families and said the regional counter-terrorism operation had dealt “severe blows” to the enemy, the presidency added.

The deaths bring to 12 the number of French troops killed since the start of Operation Barkhane, which was launched more than three years ago to try to vanquish extremist groups that overran northern Mali in 2012.

France intervened at Mali’s request in early 2013 to drive the extremists back into the desert, but attacks have continued unabated since then.

(Source: AFP)

21, February 2018

Over 100 schoolgirls missing after Boko Haram raid on Nigerian village ⁰

A total of 111 schoolgirls are missing after Boko Haram Takfiri militants attacked Dapchi village in northeast Nigeria, police say.

“Eight hundred and fifteen students returned to the school and were visibly seen, out of 926 in the school,” the police minister of Yobe state, Abdulmaliki Sumonu, told reporters on Wednesday. “The rest are missing. No case of abduction has so far been established.”
Earlier in the day, two sources said that a roll-call at the girls’ school in the village on Tuesday showed that 91 students were absent.

“I saw girls crying and wailing in three Tata vehicles and they were crying for help,” a witness from the nearby village of Gumsa, who was reportedly forced to show the terrorists the way out of the area and then released, told Reuters.

Meanwhile, seven parents said their daughters were among the missing.

“I hope my daughter is not one of those abducted as we learned that over ninety of them were not seen after going through their register book,” one parent said.

The two sources, several parents and other local witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity as Nigerian security and government officials warned them not to disclose the disappearance.

Eyewitnesses said on Monday that a convoy of pickup trucks belonging to Boko Haram descended on Dapchi in the Bursari area of Yobe state around 6 p.m. (1700 GMT). The militants went directly to the Girls Science Secondary School, and began shooting sporadically, forcing students and teachers to flee, according to the witnesses.

Since 2009, the Boko Haram militancy has left at least 20,000 dead and made over 2.6 million others homeless.

If confirmed, the girls’ disappearance would be one of the largest since the Takfiri terrorist group kidnapped more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in 2014. The mass kidnapping triggered global condemnation and intense criticism of Nigerian officials in the country as well as an international “Bring Back Our Girls” campaign.

Of the 276 originally abducted students, nearly 60 escaped soon after the incident and others have since been released after mediation. Some 100 are still believed to remain in captivity.

Source: Presstv

21, February 2018

Ambazonia Crisis: Biya frustrated by the huge cracks on his wall ⁰

Despite their poker face when on national television, officials of the ruling CPDM (Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement) and their cronies have been caught in a huge storm that might soon tear the government apart. The long knife that has, for many years, eliminated perceived opponents might very soon turn inwards and the consequences will be disastrous.

For so long, there have been speculations about the weakening cohesion among members of the ruling party and the military, but the Southern Cameroons crisis that has been playing out for more than fifteen months is gradually revealing that what holds the party together is just a small financial and political interest, and even with that, the ruling party members are at daggers drawn and the infighting will soon become a national sport for the entire nation to watch on national television.

While many CPDM party supporters have been struggling to hide their frustration with the system, others are gradually coming out to spill the beans. Years of manipulation and pretense have gradually turned into enormous frustration with some members of the ruling party who erroneously hold that power belongs to them. Some of this frustration is even directed at Mr. Biya himself who has been presiding over the country’s destiny for 35 years, with no results to show for his long stay in power.

The country is bereft of state-of-the-art infrastructure, its hospitals have been reduced to consultation clinics and the quality of education has taken a nosedive. The economy is on life support, as corruption and nepotism become the rule in a country that was once touted around the world as an oasis of peace in a desert of political chaos.

One would have thought that only the young, ambitious and hungry members of the party would start throwing stones at the ailing president. But things are slowly turning out differently. Even the oldest member of the ruling party, Chief Victor Mukete of Kumba, seems to be taking some parting shots at Mr. Biya whom he accuses of being inaccessible and ineffective. The 99-year-old Mukete knows he is on his way out of politics, as his senatorial appointment will no longer be renewed due to age and he thinks this is the right time to tell it all, at least in the interest of future generations.

Speaking to Jeune Afrique, the continent’s most popular French language political magazine, Nfon Mukete did not spare any punches. He pulled some of his deadliest punches against Mr. Biya who himself has been out of the public eye for months now.

Chief Mukete has castigated the Biya government for appointing less than 10 Anglophones to senior positions in the country. He decried the marginalization of Anglophones, adding that none of the Anglophones who had been prime minister under Biya had been courageous or honest enough to sound the alarm.

But it is not only the politicians that are exposing the weakness in the current system. In an anonymous letter to the president, some soldiers have been highlighting the issues facing current efforts to roll back separatists who have been making huge gains in the North West and South West regions.

“We are advising you that there is disorder and non-compliance with the instructions given by the field operations hierarchy in the two regions in crisis. The decisions taken by the higher military hierarchy are not implemented by those expected to implement them in the field, especially in the Southwest region where the instructions of General Sali are not respected by the commander of operations, Colonel Ousmanou, who by flouting these instructions, is putting our forces at risk where they are killed by the separatists. This way of acting has already encouraged or facilitated the secessionists to kill some of our troops and seize our equipment (weapons and ammunition). During meetings of the General Staff chaired by the Manyu Divisional Officer, Colonel Ousmanou is always against everyone, sometimes urging the prosecutor of the republic to support ideas relating to the respect of human rights. He declares that the President of the Republic and his government in Yaoundé must find a political and non-military solution to this crisis and that he will never accept that a man under his command use his weapon against anyone,” the memo said.

The memo adds that “Other senior officers are engaged in maintaining and protecting the underground economy that sustains and supports the enemy’s camp. Colonels Ntsama and Ngongang are engaged in despicable acts that do not honor our military. They are involved in the breaking of shops in Ekok, and other localities of Manyu, carting with them freezers, money and other property. Any questions from a subordinate in this regard always result in the subordinate’s redeployment further into the zone or he is given a harsh punishment.”

This does not only reveal that there are cracks on Mr. Biya’s wall. It is a clear demonstration that the Southern Cameroons crisis is causing the government to implode. Southern Cameroonians have succeeded to split the ruling party and the military too is gradually falling apart. Their corrupt practices are being exposed by one of theirs who has elected anonymity. The huge pain and death left by separatist attacks on the country’s military are gradually splitting the Francophone population that was for a long time indifferent to what was happening in Southern Cameroons.

The deaths are painful. The minister of defense who said arrogantly that the military would implement the president’s decision without batting an eyelid has suddenly disappeared from the picture. Even the noisy communication minister feels ashamed of the number of soldiers killed by a small group of armed Southern Cameroonians.

Today, the country is in tears. The bodies of 32 soldiers killed by Ambazonian tigers were given their last honor at the Mvan military base. While the government considers Ambazonian Tigers as terrorists, many Southern Cameroonians consider the Tigers as their brilliant and brave soldiers who have been working hard to protect Southern Cameroonian women and children who have been victims of the military’s brutality.

With rudimentary weapons, Ambazonian Tigers have been able to inflict such damage on the military. Today they have sophisticated weapons and many more are on their way, though a ship full of weapons shipped by the Southern Cameroons Diaspora was yesterday, February 20, 2018, intercepted by Tunisian authorities in their waters. The ship was using a Panamanian flag as a flag of convenience. The Southern Cameroonians soldiers are now fully armed with AK47, M16, Ruger 10/22, Remington 700, AR-15, and some classified tactical weapons to defend their women, children and territory. The struggle seems to be entering a more critical phase and the next days will surely be tough as Southern Cameroonians have vowed that if their leaders are not released, they would transform the entire country into a fireball.

The number of soldiers killed can no longer be hidden by the government of Cameroon. On Monday, February 19, 2018, Colonel Badjeck Didier confirmed on Vision 4 TV that: “Ambazonians have killed more of our soldiers than Boko Haram ever did.” The half-cast doubles as the Director of Communications at the Ministry of Terrorism and his acknowledgement is a clear indictment of the military whose hallmark throughout this conflict has been brutality.

It should be recalled that the Southern Cameroons military only picked up weapons against the Biya regime in November 2017 after government forces killed many Southern Cameroonians for more than a year, despite repeated calls for dialogue by the international community.

With all what is happening at this time, Mr. Biya and his inner circle are at their wit’s end. Violence has not been able to intimidate Southern Cameroonians into submission. With huge cracks emerging on his wall, it is clear that Mr. Biya, who is suspected of being bedridden, will have to meet Southern Cameroonians halfway. Military action alone will not solve the problem. Though government officials have been saying they will not negotiate with terrorists, it is clear that they will have to eat their words as Southern Cameroonians are determined to win back their independence and the Southern Cameroons Diaspora is making good on its promise of providing arms to the pool of willing fighters back home that is inflicting pain on the country’s military. Mr. Biya and his government have to sue for peace. They have to reconcile with the Southern Cameroons Diaspora. The Southern Cameroons Diaspora is rich and huge. With more than three million Southern Cameroonians out of the country, it is very easy to raise money for any military action. It is time to talk peace and any discussions must include the Southern Cameroons Diaspora. The ball is in Mr. Biya’s court.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai and Kingsley Betek