Southern Cameroons Vice President Dabney Yerima has said that revenge for the killings of thousands of Ambazonians by French Cameroun army soldiers has no expiry date.

The exiled Ambazonia leader made the remarks while addressing a Southern Cameroons think tank in Dublin, Ireland on Tuesday.

Vice President Yerima told the zoom forum that there was need for every Southern Cameroonian to offer a word of prayer for the Ambazonia leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and the eleven members of his cabinet abducted in NERA hotel in Abuja three years ago.

Comrade Dabney Yerima underlined the need for efforts to understand President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe’s school of thought, saying the Ambazonia Interim Government and several world powers including the United States are now determined to deliver justice to those who ordered and perpetrated the killings of thousands of Southern Cameroons women and children

“On this day three years ago, French Cameroun and Nigerian authorities engaged in an unacceptable violation of human rights and international law. Secret Service and military personnel of both nations interrupted a meeting chaired by President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, the leader of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, and abducted him with eleven members of his cabinet from the NERA hotel in Abuja. Our leaders were held incommunicado for 21 days in Nigeria before they were transferred to Yaoundé where they have all been sentenced to life by a military court” Yerima observed.

Dabney Yerima furthered that “Since the abduction of our leaders, the Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria denounced the act as “illegal and unconstitutional”. The Nigerian judge said that irrespective of whether the Southern Cameroons leaders posed a threat to the Nigerian state or not, the Federal Government did not follow due process and thus violated both the Nigerian constitution and articles 32 and 33 of the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Observing that their human rights were violated, Justice Chikere ordered their return to Nigeria. He also decided that the government should pay compensation of ₦5 million each to the 12 and ₦200 000 each to the 39 other deportees.

The US Senate Resolution 684 published on 01 January 2021 must give the Southern Cameroons hope” he concluded.

By Chi Prudence Asong

After four years of civil war in Anglophone Cameroon, state and rebel forces have refused to engage in serious dialogue while citizens and children suffer in crossfire. DW’s Adrian Kriesch reports from western Cameroon.

“Drive on!” a soldier shouts at us in the middle of Bamenda, the economic capital of northwestern Cameroon. We have stopped because a large pool of blood, next to a pair of plastic sandals, blocks our way. “Maybe it’s just animal blood. We’re still investigating,” says the soldier dismissively. Meanwhile, around us, soldiers go house-to-house. A street further on, they load young men onto a lorry because they cannot show proof of identification. “We’re scared of the army. They make us very angry,” a young motorcycle taxi driver tells us. Violence has escalated in Cameroon since 2016. Lawyers in the city of Bamenda had taken to the streets, protesting the neglect of the English-speaking minority in the western regions of Cameroon. Soon, other branches of civil society joined. Cameroon became an independent country in the 1960s by merging a former French-speaking mandated territory and an English-speaking one. To this day, formally there are two official languages (English and French), two education systems, and two legal systems. But, in reality, the English-speaking minority in western Cameroon has felt disadvantaged, neglected and oppressed by the central government in the capital Yaounde.The state reacted to the peaceful protests in 2016 with force. At least six people were killed, and soon afterward, armed resistance groups formed. The security situation remains out of control.

The absent father figure

Bamenda’s mayor Paul Achobang is a member of President Paul Biya’s party. Biya has been in power in Cameroon for almost 40 years. But since the beginning of the crisis, the 87-year-old strongman has failed to visited the region once. Instead, he is said to spend weeks Swiss luxury hotels, booking entire floors. Bamenda mayor still supports Paul Biya, and blames his towns problems on its people Still, Biya — whose portrait hangs in the mayor’s office — is seen by some, including Achobang, as a father figure. According to the mayor, Biya wants the best for everyone, has offered amnesty to all, and, if the region is neglected, it is down to lazy parliamentarians, or there are not enough resources to go around. The government would like to repair the disastrous roads, but no company has tendered for the contract, because it is too dangerous. “Is Paul Biya at fault?” asks Achobang before answering himself: “No, it’s the people of Bamenda.” Besides, he claims, Bamenda has improved dramatically due to “Operation Clean Bamenda,” a military maneuver that has the army greatly increase its presence in the city. “Sooner or later we won’t hear any shots being fired here,” declares Achobang. But just a few hours later, shots ring out across Bamenda, and an explosion is heard. Two days later, 8-year-old Nsoh Macpeace is buried. Separatists and soldiers battled in front of his home, and when the child left the house, a grenade exploded. Nsoh Macpeace died in crossfire between separatists and government soldiers “The boy is so experienced with this conflict over four years. He knew where to hide when people were shooting,” says his aunt Gladys Kum, as she struggles to hold back tears. On this day, he hid with his grandmother. “This explosion with the grenade — they were lying there, waiting for the child to come out, it happened,” Kum says. “I don’t know why God allowed this to happen How long will this go on?!” Aunt Gladys Kum breaks down.

City of fear

Bamenda is filled with fear of attacks by soldiers and separatists. Everyone knows someone kidnapped for ransom. Schoolchildren only wear uniforms during classes because they fear being kidnapped by separatists if they wear their school uniforms in the town.

Cameroon separatists target schools

In the countryside, most schools have been closed for the past four years. Separatists target schools to pressure the government. In October, a shocking attack killed seven children in the town of Kumba.

Drunk soldiers, armed separatists

We travel to Numba. The road is a procession of checkpoints, where security forces openly drink liquor and demand bribes. Further along, a gang of separatists armed with hunting rifles and machetes holds us up. Their leader, Kevin, says he was a former student at the University of Bamenda, while another member of the gang counts money collected from passing cars. A separatist shows his hunting weapons near Numba town. Gangs claim to recieve donations from passing travelers Kevin claims the locals willingly give money to the fighters. The soldiers are the evil ones, he says: “They rape, burn houses. They commit so many crimes. They rape young women.” In Numba, Pastor Roland Arrey says he is tired of hearing the same thing. “Everyone wants to tell their story and show they are winning,” he says, “but nobody wants to engage in dialogue. They are playing peoples’ lives.” Both the military and the separatists are accused of profiting financially from the conflict. Any peacemaking dialogue seems a long shot: The government has incarcerated an important separatist leader. Meanwhile, separatist groups do not speak with one unified voice.

Cameroon in mourning after deadly school attack

Many used to sympathize with the separatists, but now that has changed. Pastor Arrey looks downcast as he walks through the remains of the village school. Torn schoolbooks litter the floor, broken desks stand aside. Schools should have reopened in September, but separatists threatened the teachers. “The school symbolizes a lot for every community that aspires for development and growth. How does a community like this build a future with children that have never gone to school?” he asks in a hollow voice. Schools rarely open outside urban centers in western Cameroon for fear of attack

Dialogue?

The German government said in 2020 that gross human rights abuses and atrocities have been committed by both actors in the conflict. Only dialogue, Berlin said, would solve the crisis — and Germany welcomed new laws to decentralize Cameroon’s government as “an important signal in their readiness to compromise and engage in dialogue.” In the town on Numba, Pastor Arrey has provided a ray of hope by building a youth learning center. Young people can train to become tailors or barbers. An alternative school program is available to children three times a week. Pastor Roland Arrey’s youth center in Numba gives youngsters a space to learn Youngsters sit in an overcrowded classroom. Two volunteers from the village take the classes: in one corner, a woman teaches the older children to write. In another corner, younger children listen as they are taught to read. This kind of center is a blessing, says a smiling Pastor Arrey. For him, life is worthless without hope. Culled from Deutchwelle

After four years of conflict in Southern Cameroons, the US Senate finally passed a strongly-worded resolution paving the way for punitive sanctions on those Biya Francophone government officials responsible for atrocities in the breakaway region.

Yaoundé is reportedly in a panic situation and the regime has annulled its usual end of year dinner at state house citing Covid-19 as reason for the cancellation.  

In two communiqués signed on Monday, January 4, 2020, the Minister Director of the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency, Samuel Mvondo Ayolo informed the heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Cameroon, members of national constituted bodies, as well as their wives that the respective ceremonies of presentation of wishes to the Head of State and his wife for 2021 have all been cancelled.

In a rare bipartisan motion, the US Congress slammed the Biya Francophone-dominated government, accusing it of repressing Anglophone citizens both politically and economically for decades. The Senators also cite the Yaoundé administration’s corruption and allegedly fraudulent elections.

The resolution calls for targeted smart sanctions against armed actors implicated in human rights abuses, it demands unfettered humanitarian access to the conflict zone, it calls for the Biya government to participate in mediated talks to address the root causes of the conflict, and it commits the US to continue to limit its security assistance to Cameroon.

Lord Alton of Liverpool has raised the Anglophone issue in Parliament since the outbreak of the conflict. Commenting on the US Congress resolution he said, “This now puts additional pressure on the British government, as the former colonial power in the Southern Cameroons. The UK must apply targeted smart sanctions against armed individuals implicated in human rights abuses in this devastating conflict. It is no longer possible for Britain to maintain a detached position while millions of Africans who cherish their English legal and school systems, and the English language, are asking for our moral support. The UK must exercise its diplomatic influence to press the regime of President Biya to attend mediated peace talks.”

In an interview with Independent Catholic News, Dr Chris Fomunyoh, senior director for Africa at the National Democratic Institute in Washington DC, and a native of Cameroon, commented, “It is remarkable that the US Senate adopted such a bipartisan resolution, given the very polarized nature of current US politics. There is a reason to believe that the resolution will significantly shape or influence US policy toward Cameroon under the new Biden/Harris administration.”

Dr Fomunyoh continued, “One of the innovations with Resolution 684 is its reference to targeted sanctions against perpetrators and proponents of violence, whether in uniform or among civilian leadership or among the armed groups. Certainly, the killings and atrocities that have become the hallmarks of this conflict can no longer be condoned.”

The Congressional resolution condemns the excessive force used by Cameroon armed forces in crushing peaceful protest against the imposition of French laws and schooling in the Anglophone regions. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reports that 700,000 are internally displaced by the violence, and another 60,000 have fled to Nigeria. The US resolution notes the burning of villages, live ammunition used against non-violent protestors, and the arbitrary arrest, detention and torture of opposition leaders. The UN Children’s Fund reports that 855,000 students have been unable to attend school for the last four years.

The Biya regime responded to increasing international pressure by holding a Major National Dialogue in October 2019. However, many Anglophone leaders were afraid to attend in case they were detained and jailed. Since the meeting, the security situation has deteriorated, with massacres, including the killing of seven schoolchildren in Kumba in October. The Catholic Church has been foremost in rallying moderate civil society opinion against the violent extremes of all sides to the conflict. Its members have faced intimidation and kidnapping, and the murder of several priests.

Dr Fomunyoh says the US resolution may now put pressure on other world leaders to follow suit. “Friends of Cameroon and of humanity can no longer be indifferent to ongoing mayhem and utter destruction. The government of Cameroon and the armed groups have to understand what the world is saying, as captured by the US Senate Resolution 684: there is no military solution to this conflict. What is needed is a mediated negotiated solution that addresses the root causes of blatant Anglophone marginalisation and alienation in Cameroon.”

Independent Catholic News with additional reporting from Camcordnews

Three members of a self-defense group were shot dead by suspected members of Islamist group Boko Haram in the north of Cameroon.

Local authorities reported that the casualties were member of the Kaliari Vigilant committee

These self-defense groups is usually composed of civilians and are responsible for providing information or serve as scouts to soldiers.

Boko Haram attacks have killed nearly 2,500 Cameroonians between 2014 and 2017, according to the country’s defense ministry.

The UN Refugee Agency estimates approximately 26 million people in the Lake Chad region have been affected by the Boko Haram violence, and more than 2.6 million displaced.

The Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009 in northeastern Nigeria before spreading to neighboring countries. Since then, more than 36,000 people (mostly in Nigeria) have been killed and 3 million have fled their homes, according to the UN.

Source: Africa News