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Schools Set Ablaze as Biya regime Vows Crackdown on Separatists

25, January 2018

Schools Set Ablaze as Biya regime Vows Crackdown on Separatists 0

Unrest in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions intensified with arson attacks on schools and a city market as the government vowed to quash a secessionist movement whose leaders are in detention in Nigeria, saying it won’t negotiate with terrorists.

 At least three schools were torched this week in the Northwest region, one of two Anglophone areas in the majority French-speaking Central African nation, after a market in the city of Bamenda was set ablaze in an attack the government blames on the separatists. Gunmen killed one soldier and seriously injured another on Thursday as they were on patrol in a town west of Bamenda, a commander of the paramilitary police, Ewane, said by phone.
 “The government cannot and will not engage any form of dialogue with terrorists bent on amputating part of the national territory in the name of secession,’’ Communication Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said in a phone interview late Wednesday. “You don’t negotiate anything with such people.”
Security forces have stepped up patrols in the areas, searching houses and arresting those who can’t produce identity papers as part of “a routine operation,’’ Simon Emile Mooh, prefect for the Bui Division in the Northwest region, said by phone. “The forces of law and order are merely making sure that no weapons have been sneaked in,” he said.

Ten leaders of the separatist movement, which calls the two Anglophone regions the Republic of Ambazonia, have been held in neighboring Nigeria since Jan. 6 at an undisclosed location, according to their Nigerian lawyer, Femi Falana. The crisis began more than a year ago with peaceful protests against the French language’s dominance in courtrooms and schools.

One of the movement’s interim leaders, Bobga Harmony, announced on Facebook “the multiplication of self-defense operations” because the government rejects talks. “We shall continue targeting anti-secessionists as well as burn down schools,” he said.

Source: Bloomberg


Ambazonia Crisis: Gunmen cross from Nigeria, attack Cameroon border post

25, January 2018

Ambazonia Crisis: Gunmen cross from Nigeria, attack Cameroon border post 0

Gunmen attacked a border crossing in Cameroon’s southwest on Thursday, launching their assault from Nigeria, security source witnesses said.

No one was killed, the officials said, but the incident is likely to further damage relations between the neighbors, strained over the rise of an Anglophone Cameroonian separatist movement.

Five security and administrative agents said the unidentified gunmen launched their attack on the Ekok border post along Cross River.

“They came around 3 a.m. (0200 GMT). They came from Nigeria and there were many of them. They had heavy weapons. They had grenades. They were shooting everywhere,” said one police source, who like the other witnesses asked not to be named.

“We don’t really know how it happened,” a second security source told Reuters. “Some of these guys came from the riverside (beneath the bridge). We don’t know exactly which path they took, but all of them came from Nigeria.”

Government officials in Cameroon would not immediately comment on the attack.

Nigeria’s defense ministry spokesman said he was not aware of the incident and referred queries to the military. A Nigerian military spokesman said he was not aware of the attack but would make checks.

Cameroonian military officials and pro-government media accuse Nigeria of sheltering the insurgents, who since last year have waged a guerrilla campaign to establish an independent homeland for Cameroon’s English-speaking minority.

Reuters reported last month that Cameroonian troops crossed into Nigeria in pursuit of the rebels without seeking authorization from Nigeria, provoking a behind-the-scenes rift between two nations with a history of fraught relations.

The militaries of Cameroon and Nigeria repeatedly clashed over the disputed Bakassi peninsula in the 1980s and 90s.

The status of the territory was settled in Cameroon’s favor by The Hague-based International Court of Justice in 2002 and in recent years the two countries have cooperated extensively to stamp out the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

More than 15,000 refugees have fled to Nigeria amid Cameroonian military operations against the Anglophone separatists, the United Nations refugee agency and Nigerian government officials said earlier this month.

REUTERS


How the Southern Cameroons crisis killed the English language

25, January 2018

How the Southern Cameroons crisis killed the English language 0

The Southern Cameroons crisis has taught every Cameroonian where the English language goes to die. Cameroon Concord News is citing the Ambazonian crisis to make it clear that Southern Cameroonians do not regard themselves as blameless in the use of the English language today in La Repubique du Cameroun.

But do you ever, like Cameroon Concord News, read the speeches or ministerial press releases of French Cameroun cabinet ministers and want to ask, “What has the English language ever done to you?” English language is in a bad way and the blame mainly goes to those who write or speak about politics in French Cameroun.

Among the ugly features presently witnessed in French Cameroun are dead or dying metaphors, redundant words and phrases, pretentious diction, and meaningless, abstract or vague words. President Biya and his gang and those who write speeches for them are the worst offenders.

While none of this is about political correctness, the Francophone political elites always take the adjective over the noun so that everything that comes out of their mouths is designed to sell their achievements and that of Mr. Biya.

In CPDM politics, any direct admission of weakness or failure is to be avoided. Unfortunately, this makes the consequences far more serious when failure is eventually uncovered like the case with this press release signed by  the Minister of Commucation, Issa Tchiroma Bakary. It would be unfair to blame only President Biya for these developments.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai


Ambazonia Refugee Crisis: Aid presented by Minister Mengot were foodstuffs seized from Nigerian and Anglophone businessmen

25, January 2018

Ambazonia Refugee Crisis: Aid presented by Minister Mengot were foodstuffs seized from Nigerian and Anglophone businessmen 0

The Manyu CPDM food aid meant to feed thousands of Ambazonian refugees and displaced persons was forcefully collected from Nigerian and Southern Cameroons businessmen trading on the Enugu-Bamenda Highway, Cameroon Concord News has learned.

The bags of rice, beans and salt were seized from traders by heavily armed Cameroon government troops and part of the items handed over to Minister Victor Mengot and his CPDM delegation from Yaoundé. We also gathered that the small quantity handed over to the pro Biya comedians is being diverted by corrupt contractors and there are already calls to open an independent investigation.

The bags of rice were taken from the businessmen and women through roadblocks manned by a bewildering array of the Francophone dominated army and bandits serving with councils controlled by the ruling CPDM crime syndicate.

Ever since the 84 year-old President Biya declared war on the Anglophone communities, not only are kidnappings and executions common, but Southern Cameroons’s insecurity also makes it difficult for senior Cameroon government officials to travel to the rural areas. Minister Victor Mengot could not go to places like Kembong, Dadi and Nsang as government agents who do go there run the risk of relying for protection on the same people they are fighting.

A prominent Manyu CPDM elite who travelled to Mamfe with Minister Mengot and who did not wish to be named, told Cameroon Concord News that a significant amount of food presented by the Minister Mengot delegation was being diverted to cartels who were selling it illegally.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

 


UN says number of extra-judicial killings in Congo-Kinshasa has tripled

25, January 2018

UN says number of extra-judicial killings in Congo-Kinshasa has tripled 0

The United Nations has slammed the Democratic Republic of Congo for its inability to contain a surge in the number of extra-judicial “executions” in the country, saying figures show a three-time increase in two years of such killings by “state agents”.

The United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUSCO) said Wednesday that a crisis in vast region of Kasai has driven up the number of summary “executions” in the DRC, saying state agents carried out 1,176 extra-judicial killings last year.

MONUSCO deplores “the exceptional increase” which showed that killings had tripled in number over the past two years.

It said at least 89 women and 213 children were killed as part of the extra-judicial killings in the DRC in 2017.

The findings, which were part of MONUSCO’s annual report on human rights violations in the DRC, said that 64 percent of all extra-judicial killings by state agents last year were carried out by armed forces.

The report also indicated that rights violations and abuses committed in 2017 across the central African country had risen by more than 25 percent compared to the previous year, adding that a total of 6,497 cases had been recorded last year.

MONUSCO said at least 752 people were executed in Kasai, a region that comprises three provinces plagued by violence since August 2016 when Kamwina Nsapu, a tribal chieftain known for his fierce opposition to regime of President Joseph Kabila, was killed. Around 3,000 people have been killed since then while some 1.4 million remain displaced.

The UN report described Kasai as a region plagued with “persistent crisis”, saying crimes by state agents were rampant there. The world body lost two of its experts in the region last March while investigating the violence.


Ex-US gymnast doctor sentenced up to 175 years in jail for sexual abuse

25, January 2018

Ex-US gymnast doctor sentenced up to 175 years in jail for sexual abuse 0

The disgraced long-time USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar has been sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing young female gymnasts.

Following days of testimony in a Michigan courtroom from about 160 of Nasser’s victims, including Olympic gold medalists, the Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina made the ruling on Wednesday.

“I just signed your death warrant,” Aquilina told Nassar in imposing the penalty, after delivering a searing rebuke of his years of abuse.

“It is my honor and privilege to sentence you because you do not deserve to walk outside of a prison ever again,” she added.

Nassar, 54, pleaded guilty in November to seven counts of first-degree sex assault in Ingham County, as well as three additional charges in Eaton County, where he will be sentenced next week. He is already serving a 60-year sentence in federal prison for child pornography convictions.

Before the sentence was announced, Nassar apologized to his victims, telling them, “I will carry your words with me for the rest of my days.”

Women in the US and the UK have recently been coming forward to share accounts of sexual harassment and assault in workplaces, including in the media, entertainment industry, and political environments.

An avalanche of sexual misconduct allegations were made last year in October against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. The scandal has rippled in a wide range of industries.

 

Source: Presstv


What does it take to get the Ambazonian leadership released from Nigeria?

24, January 2018

What does it take to get the Ambazonian leadership released from Nigeria? 0

The Interim President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and 10 of his senior aides are being held captive in the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the President Buhari administration. A leading voice in the Southern Cameroons struggle for independence has said the Nigerian action is an “act of aggression” against Ambazonia.

The Ambazonian Secretary for Communication Hon. Chris Anu has condemned the act in the most strongly worded statement ever since the interim government was announced by President Ayuk Tabe. There are fears that Nigerians residing in Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun may be targeted by the Ambazonian Defense Force known as the Tigers.

“What happened in Abuja wasn’t staged by Yaoundé, but an act of aggression against the people of Ambazonia, its independence and dignity, and against relations between Ambazonia and the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” a spokesperson for the Interim Government said Wednesday.

In a telephone conversation with CIR, Ambazonia’s Secretary of State for Finance & Economy Hon. Brado Etchu Tabenyang stated that “The Ambazonian Government does not accept that President Ayuk Tabe remain hostage, and we do not know the reasons for his captivity. Nothing justifies such an action from an experienced Nigerian leader which violates the Vienna Convention and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

Responding to calls for dialogue from the President of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang, a senior adviser to President Ayuk Tabe told CIR that “It is not possible for us to dialogue with our leaders in detention.”

On the whereabouts of the detained Ambazonia leaders, Cameroon Intelligence Report contacts in Abuja have met with the Sisiku and his team and we want to reiterate that they are very, very well.  The Ambazonian leaders – Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Prof. Che Awasum,  Barrister Nalowa Bih, Dr. Fidelis Che, Dr. Nfor Nfor, Dr. Henry Kimeng, Prof. Che Awasum, Mr Tassang Wilfred, Dr. Ojong Okonghor, Barrister Shufai Berinyuh, Barrister Eyambe Elias and Dr. Cornelius Kwanga – were arrested at Nera hotel by the Nigerian Secret Service, DSS in Abuja on January 5th while holding a meeting.

A high-level Cameroon government ministerial source told CIR today that President Biya and his closest allies “have no idea what’s going on with the Ambazonia leaders in Nigeria,” and that President Buhari has again sent words to Biya via the President of Equatorial Guinea.

The arrest of President Ayuk Tabe plunged Southern Cameroons counties into a political crisis and stoked fears of conflict between Ambazonians and Nigerians living in Cameroon. So far the Ambazonian interim Government have called for calm, and made public statements asking for Sisiku Ayuk Tabe’s release.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai


Twin car bombings kill more than 30 in Libyan city of Benghazi

24, January 2018

Twin car bombings kill more than 30 in Libyan city of Benghazi 0

Twin car bombings outside a mosque have claimed the lives of more than 30 people and wounded dozens more in Libya’s second city Benghazi.

Security officials said on Wednesday that the bombers blew up two cars 30 minutes apart outside the mosque after evening prayers on Tuesday in the central neighborhood of al-Sleimani.

Emergency and security workers who had rushed to the scene were among those killed in the second blast.

Fadia al-Barghathi, a spokeswoman for the city’s al-Jala hospital, said that the facility received 25 dead and 51 wounded. Spokesman Khalil Gider said that the Benghazi Medical Center received nine dead and 36 wounded.

Health officials said many of the wounded were in critical condition and the death toll was likely to rise.

Military spokesman Milud al-Zwei said Ahmad al-Fituri, a security official for Khalifa Haftar forces, was also among those killed.

Benghazi has been relatively calm since military strongman Haftar announced the eastern city’s “liberation” from militants in July last year after a three-year campaign.

Haftar, who supports an administration based in the east of the country has declared three days of mourning following the attack. Haftar’s opponents accuse him of wanting to seize power and establish a military dictatorship.

A UN-backed unity government based in the capital Tripoli, the Government of National Accord (GNA) condemned the attack as a “terrorist and cowardly act.” The GNA has struggled to assert its authority outside the west.

The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) strongly denounced the bombings as “horrific” and warned that “direct or indiscriminate attacks against civilians… constitute war crimes.”

Libyans check the aftermath of an explosion in the eastern city of Benghazi on January 24, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

 

The UN-backed government of Libya has yet to exert its control over much of the oil-rich North African country as a rival administration in the east and its powerful army continue to challenge Tripoli’s rule as they rely on support from some of Libya’s neighbors and certain rich Arab states.

Libya has been wracked by violence and divisions since dictator Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed military invasion.

A series of fierce clashes between rival militias at Tripoli’s airport last week left 20 dead and forced the cancellation of all flights for five days.

 

Source: Presstv


Equatorial Guinea’s president urges dialogue to solve Southern Cameroon crisis

24, January 2018

Equatorial Guinea’s president urges dialogue to solve Southern Cameroon crisis 0

President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Tuesday advocated dialogue as the best solution to the political crisis in Southern Cameroon that resulted in the influx of refugees into Nigeria.

Mbasogo, who made the call when he briefed reporters after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, said there is no country without its own peculiar crisis.

There is an ongoing crisis in Cameroon. Thousands have fled the English-speaking areas of the country because of violence and unrest, and many are calling for an independent state.

The visiting leader told reporters that it only behooves the parties concerned to put heads together and embrace dialogue as the platform for solution to the crisis.

“Cameroon is a big nation whose crisis requires the concern of all forces. There is no nation without its own crisis,” he added.

“What is required is to seek solution through dialogue and use it to find a common axis. Those seeking refuge in other lands need to sit down together and find solution through dialogue. It is only through that, they can find solution to the crisis,” the visiting president said.

He applauded Buhari’s efforts in checking the activities of Boko Haram sect, adding that the Nigerian leader had been doing a great job in the fight against insurgency within and beyond Nigeria.

The visiting president told his audience that President Buhari had so far succeeded in degrading the Boko Haram insurgents, noting that the insurgent group is almost eliminated but for pockets of attacks still being carried out by them.

 

www.xinhuanet.com


Boycott of Minister Mengot’s Charity Visit: Manyu Diaspora heaps praise

24, January 2018

Boycott of Minister Mengot’s Charity Visit: Manyu Diaspora heaps praise 0

Subject: Letter of Appreciation

To: All sons and daughters of Manyu:

The Manyu Diaspora Advisory Committee thanks you for your brave decision to totally boycott and disrupt the deceitful Victor Mengot and his toxic CPDM sponsored event in Mamfe last Saturday January 20th, 2018.

By boycotting that propaganda motivated event last week, you have sent a strong and clear message of ENOUGH is ENOUGH of this deception to Mengot, Tabetando, and their evil CPDM masters in Etoudi. They now know that you have finally turned your backs against the highly corrupt and blood sucking of CPDM and their agents who only know during election time. For many years dictator Biya has made empty promises to Manyu people. Worse is that Biya and his Beti dominated terrorist military are now actively engaged in killing Manyu sons and daughters, burning down our markets and villages; raping our girls/women, and sending thousands of Manyu citizens to run for their lives to Nigeria as refugees, all living in very inhuman conditions. As our brothers and sisters escape the murderous bullets of Biya, their hard-earned cocoa, money, animals, petrol and other valuables are stolen by Biya’s boys. It is not a secret any more that these acts of inhumanity against you are, regrettably, perpetrated with the complicity of some of our own so called Manyu elites and leaders.

We want to, by this posting, sincerely appreciate wisdom and the trust you have reposed in the Manyu Diaspora Advisory Committee as defenders of your rights and freedom.

Mindful of the pain you have endured and still endure while Mengot, Tabetando and the other heartless and selfish CPDM crooks remained conspiringly silent,

Mindful of the pain in the hearts of our brothers and sisters whose petrol and ocada business has been disrupted by Biya’s murderous military, with the active collaboration of Tabetando and Mengot,

Mindful of the pain you continue to suffer through the loss of your loved ones while Mengot, Tabetando and other Manyu CPDM leaders sat silently in Yaounde and Douala in the comforts of their palaces,

Mindful of the failed provocative and evil acts of Mengot and his friends in Mamfe last weekend, in thinking that they can buy your conscience with a few bags of poisoned rice, and make you to ignore the killing of many of our young people and arresting hundreds of others,

And after carefully reviewing the tons of anti Manyu activities by Mengot, Tabetando and their other collaborators, especially in desecrating our most revered Ekpe for their selfish political gains, the Manyu Diaspora Advisory Committee declare as follows:

Mr. Victor Mengot and Lawyer Tabetando have been identified as Manyu traitors. Consequently, any past cultural/traditional recognition and/or titles bestowed on Mr. Victor Mengot and Lawyer Tabetando by Manyu people, at home or abroad have been revoked with immediate effect. These individuals, by this declaration, cease to speak for and on behalf of Manyu people. They are also advised, in their own very best interest, to desist from parading themselves in public or private as Manyu leaders. We urge all Manyu sons and daughter, at home and abroad to see and treat these snakes for who they truly are – TRAITORS! The blood of our murdered young people are in their hands. Tabetando and Mengot should feel free to go to Mvomeka and continue to do boy boy work for Biya and his Beti people, but not in Manyu anymore.

Beloved brothers and sisters, thank you all again for taking your destinies into your own hands.

Sincerely,

Manyu Diaspora Advisory Committee


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