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19, October 2020

French Cameroun: Boko Haram kills three, abducts children in Far North ⁰

Boko Haram fighters killed three villagers and abducted five children in the far north of Cameroon, where jihadist groups are increasingly active, local officials said Saturday.

The attack took place overnight Thursday to Friday in the village of Oudal, six kilometres (four miles) from the country’s border with Nigeria, where the jihadist group is based, local mayor Boukar Medjeweh told AFP.

The victims were all men and the abducted children were between the ages of three and 15, Medjeweh said.

Mahamat Chetima Abba, traditional chief of the nearby Mozogo commune, confirmed the attack and also attributed it to Boko Haram.

Attacks in this border region by members of Boko Haram and a dissident branch, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), have become increasingly frequent in recent months, as they have along Nigeria’s borders with Chad and Niger.

Civilians, particularly women and children, are frequently abducted.

The Boko Haram insurgency originated in 2009 in northeastern Nigeria before spreading to neighbouring countries.

Since then, more than 36,000 people have been killed, mostly in Nigeria, and 3 million have been forced to flee their homes, according to the UN.

Source: AFP

19, October 2020

US: Trump gaffe demotes France’s Macron from president to prime minister ⁰

President Donald Trump likes to make fun of his rival Joe Biden’s verbal lapses but on Saturday he made his own goof as he took a pot shot at French President Emmanuel Macron and effectively demoted him.

Trump’s error downgrading Macron to prime minister came as he spoke at a campaign rally in Michigan, one of a flurry of stops he is making in the final three weeks of the presidential race as he trails Democrat Biden in the polls.

Trump had been speaking about the old NAFTA trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, which he called a bad deal for America and insisted on renegotiating, when he turned his attention to Macron and the Paris climate change accord.

Trump, who questions the science behind global warming, pulled the US out of that landmark global accord in 2017, saying it was costing American jobs.

“And you know what else I stopped? The Paris environmental accord,” Trump said.

“And I like Prime Minister Macron a lot. But I said ‘how’s it going over there? How is the accord doing?’ They’re not doing too good,” Trump said.

“I saved you trillions of dollars, nobody else would have done it. I said it was a disaster, they basically wanted to take our wealth.”

Trump used to enjoy a sort of bromance relationship with Macron but their ties have cooled over the years and featured a so-called handshake war — in which Macron mimicked the US president’s penchant for shaking hard and not letting go.

At a bilateral meeting in 2019 in France, Macron gripped Trump’s hand so long and firmly he left a white thumbprint on it.

Source: AFP

19, October 2020

Football: Barca’s Dutch coach says Cameroon international Nyom mocked him after Getafe defeat ⁰

The Dutch coach was seen arguing with Bordalas at the end of the match and explained in the post-match news conference that Cameroon international Nyom had mocked him.

“I told him (Bordalas) that his number 12 (Nyom) had shown me a lack of respect, he had said two or three very ugly things to me which I won’t repeat. He insulted me,” Koeman said.

“I told Bordalas that he needs to speak to his player, because we cannot tolerate that type of behaviour in modern football.”

Bordalas said he did not think his player had insulted Koeman.

“I’m here to talk about football, not about controversy. I haven’t spoken to the boy, I will tomorrow, but I doubt that Nyom would do that, I know him well,” said the Getafe coach.

“He’s very competitive, but he’s a very respectful person. I don’t allow bad behaviour among my players but I doubt that Nyom insulted him.”

Jaime Mata’s second-half penalty inflicted a first defeat of the season on Barca after four matches, and Koeman suggested he thought the crucial spot-kick, given for a foul by Frenkie de Jong on Djene Dakonam, was soft.

“I don’t know if it was a penalty, it looked like they were looking for it and we fell into the trap. I don’t know if we had VAR or not today,” he said.

“I don’t like to talk about referees, but if you watch the match and see how many fouls they made and how many cards were given out, then you can make your own mind up.”

Getafe, who have a well-earned reputation as one of the most unforgiving sides to play against in La Liga, made 20 fouls to Barcelona’s nine during the game, receiving four yellow cards to the visitors’ three.

“We knew this was a very difficult ground to come to but we tried to create passages of play and move the ball around quickly and they kept disrupting that with fouls,” Koeman added.

Source: Reuters

19, October 2020

French Cameroun Crisis: Schools close in the North as Boko Haram steps up attacks ⁰

Cameroon says it has again closed more than 60 schools on its northern border with Nigeria to protect children and teaching staff from increasing Boko Haram attacks. Many people have fled the region and are now displaced.

The Islamist group has stepped up its use of suicide bombers, even as the country’s military has drastically reduced the jihadists’ firepower.

The central African country has deployed its military to assure the safety of the remaining civilian population in the affected regions.

Ousmanou Garga, Cameroon’s basic education official on the northern border with Nigeria, says recent Boko Haram attacks have made many schools unsafe.

Garga says several dozen schools in Cameroon’s Mayo Sava, Mayo Tsanaga and Logone and Chari administrative units that border Nigeria’s Borno state, the epicenter of Boko Haram’s activities, no longer function.

“Sixty-two schools have been closed. The children have to be either scholarized (educated) in other schools very far from their own villages or to abandon schools. Thirty-four-thousand-and-fifty-four students have been registered as IDPs. We have the students of the host communities; we have even refugee students,” he said.

Garga said teachers in all the affected schools fled with the children they teach.

Cameroon’s military has been reporting at least three Boko Haram attacks every week since January. The military says most of the attackers are suicide bombers, mainly women and children. The military says the terrorist group has torched 13 schools within the past two months, held at least 200 people for ransom and abducted an unknown number of civilians.

Colonel Ndikum Azeh, commander of Cameroonian troops fighting Boko Haram in the Mayo Sava, Mayo Tsanaga and Logone and Chari administrative units, says the military has been deployed to protect civilians in the area. Azeh says some troops have also been deployed to teach displaced students in safer areas less susceptible to Boko Haram attacks.

“Ashigashia (a border town) has for long been a target for Boko Haram assault as early as 2014. The hierarchy (military) thinks that to sustain a good security situation, it is through the youths and the best process is through their education,” Azeh said.

Nongovernmental organizations, rights and humanitarian groups have been calling on Boko Haram to respect the intergovernmental Safe School Declaration. Desire Fouda of the NGO School First says the declaration should be observed to protect students and ensure they are able to receive an education.

“We sensitize different actors in education to respect those guidelines on safe schools declaration so that all the different actors should contribute to help those children to have access to education,” Fouda said.

Boko Haram terrorists have been fighting for 11 years to create an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria. The fighting has spread to Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin, with regular killings, abductions and burnings of mosques, churches, markets and schools.

Source: VOA

19, October 2020

Time to put an end to the looming ekpe crisis in the United Kingdom ⁰

Culture is the individualities and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, shared habits, music, and arts. The challenges for various structures of cultural institutions in Africa over the last centuries have been abundant but with a solid foundation of truth and justice, the institution of Ekpe has made hundreds of Manyu generations in the Cameroons rightfully honoured. Not even the Christian missionaries of the last seven score years could penetrate and distort the foundation of this cultural giant.

Over the last centuries, Epke has come to define and distinguish Manyu culture. With solid societal norms which go beyond the realms of this editorial, this institution has become an envy of many the world over. But the falsification of cultural institutions from within and external elements has been one of the most under-reported cultural crimes within the Manyu and Cameroonian community.

Ekpe has heavily influenced community peace, truth, and justice since the Manyu man started living in communities over 5500 years ago. With the growing influence of money over the last five decades, hundreds of Manyu men have expressed interest in buying their way into membership and leadership of this sacred institution. This is a trend that the elders and custodians are thankfully putting a stop to.

The title of Sessekou was on the verge of becoming so commercialized that the proud traditions were in danger of becoming trivialized. A cultural title is something which one should inherit from his ancestors and not bargain after earning a few dollars in the West.

The 25 July 2020 video publication on the YouTube platform upon which the elders and Ekpe Chiefs of Ntenako village found Johnnes Arreymbi of London guilty of the cultural wrongdoing and also for posing as a Sessekou for too long in the UK is a stark reminder of the valleys many would descend for phoney self-aggrandizement. The video from the great people of Ntenako in their most raw, explicit, and unrestrained was unequivocal. Johnnes Arreymbi has been passing for a Sessekou in the diaspora for over ten years and has been treated within the Cameroonian community with the veneration that the title attracts.

With the embarrassment of having been uncovered as a cultural imposter, a predictable but baseless and feeble social media fight-back was launched. Arreymbi’s fight-back to safe face can be seen by even the blindest amongst the blind. His tactics risk causing deep and lasting damage to the reputation of his village, clan and Ekpe. Trust in cultural institutions is an essential foundation and a basic human trait. Any cultural institution that is partial in its deliberations and decisions is viewed as lacking in credibility and such a reputation will be difficult to shake off.

The notion that the Elders and Ekpe Chiefs of Ntenako village on three occasions could not remember when they performed a celebrated public event of Sessekou Enthronement is not plausible. Any attempt by anyone in Manyu or London to perpetuate this gigantic lie would be met with vociferous consequences by the custodians and sympathizers of the Manyu culture.

This brings us to London, 17 October 2020. Cameroon Concord News Group has been reliably informed that a certain Sampson Tanyi, who arrived in the United Kingdom when Kwame Nkrumah was the chairman of the OAU and still has no intention of retiring to Manyu has voluntarily ventured into uncharted territory. This publication understands that the said Sampson Tanyi who has been described by many within Manyu circles as a prominent and successful failure is attempting to do the unthinkable by challenging the due process that led to the uncovering of this serious cultural crime.

Manyu cultural barons and custodians at home and in the diaspora are watching the current comedy led by this Self-appointed Quarter-head with wonderment and interest. One thing must be made clear to the cultural clowns and impostors in London: anyone who attempts to challenge the decision of the Epke custodians in Ntenako and Manyu on this matter would be embarking on a journey of many dangers as the consequences would be unimaginable.

We of the Concord Group publication are watching the cultural humourists and charlatans in the United Kingdom closely. All collaborators of the Sampson Tanyi in this pseudo-cultural endeavour would face the full force of Ekpe and Manyu.

The impulse to cheat is evident in many humans and wherever there are influence and money; villains and charlatans are never far away. Africans love titles but most Manyu men are predominantly obsessed with being Sessekous for honour and veneration and this fixation is driving many to obtain it by hook or crook. Ekpe as a cultural institution should not be misused and phoneys should not be shielded.

Ekpe represents a critical piece of Manyu identity as it forms the foundation of its social order. It reminds us of our past, shapes who we are today and will make the future of our descendants richer. The variety and vastness of the Manyu semi Bantu kingdom can sometimes make communication and stability demanding but Ekpe has reigned supreme in breaking these barriers and ensuring consistency, justice, and continuity.

What started as an investigation into an Ekpe title impersonation has now uncovered unanswered and pressing questions about academic titles. But for this editorial, Cameroon Concord News Group will stick to culture and Ekpe.

If Ekpe and the custodians of the Manyu culture dream of a world where no mortal will scorn or impersonate the coveted title of Sessekou, the time to put a stop is now. Sampson Tanyi and the charlatans of his Ekpe-meeting-by-zoom should take special note. Ekpe must employ this opportunity to underpin the values and beliefs that the Manyu community cherishes. The alternative to putting a stop to cultural corruption and impersonation is taking these values for granted. If any culture is diluted and taken for granted, our way of life will become foreign to us and our descendants. And Manyu intends to pursue that path not.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman and Editor-in-chief

18, October 2020

US: Shares of gun makers gain as Biden’s lead grows ⁰

Shares of gun makers have been gaining ground as Democratic candidate Joe Biden leads polls, and if he wins the presidential election in November there are expectations of a renewed surge in gun sales that could drive shares even higher.

Shares of Smith & Wesson Brands and Sturm Ruger have both rallied around 8% since late September, mirroring Biden’s widening lead in the polls since his debate against President Donald Trump. The S&P 500 is up 4% in that period.

Fears about the coronavirus pandemic, civil unrest related to protests over racial justice and worries about a potentially disputed presidential election on Nov. 3 have created a surge in gun demand this year. Smith & Wesson CEO Mark Smith last month said the industry was unable to keep up with demand.

A victory by Biden and his vice presidential running mate Kamala Harris, who favor increased gun regulation, could further stoke demand for firearms – and shares of firearms makers – particularly if Democrats wrest control of the Senate from Republicans, giving them majorities in both houses of Congress and making it easier to approve legislation.

“Should we see a Biden-Harris administration get elected, I would anticipate a surge in sales of modern sporting rifles, high-capacity magazines and corresponding ammunition,” said Aegis Capital analyst Rommel Dionisio, using an industry term for military-style rifles, a high-margin product category for firearm manufacturers.

An aggregation of betting odds by RealClearPolitics reflects a 65% chance Biden will defeat Trump, up from 55% before the Sept. 29 presidential debate.

Smith & Wesson’s stock is up 135% this year, while Sturm Ruger has gained 51%.

Shares of Sturm Ruger surged nearly 900% in the eight years from Democratic President Barack Obama’s election victory in November 2008 to the November 2016 election, which Trump won. Sturm Ruger is up just 10% during Trump’s nearly years in office. During the same 2008 to 2016 period, the S&P 500 rose about 113%.

Biden has promised to prohibit the sale of military-style rifles and high-capacity magazines, similar to a 10-year ban that expired in 2004. He also promises to require owners of military-style weapons to either sell them to the government or register them with the government.

Shares of gun makers surged ahead of the 2016 election on expectations Democratic candidate Hilary Clinton would win. Trump’s victory drove the industry into a two-year slump, with customers no longer worried they would lose access to firearms.

Firearm sales surged anew in 2020 due to fears related to the pandemic, and following social unrest in several U.S. cities and calls to defund police departments.

Federal background checks, a proxy for firearm sales to U.S. consumers, in the first nine months of 2020 reached 28.8 million, even before the typically busy holiday shopping season, topping the record 28.4 million checks done in the 2019 full year.

First-time buyers made up 40% of gun sales in early 2020, compared to an average of 24% in recent years, according to a survey of gun shops by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association.

Even if Trump wins a second term and dispels expectations of gun control measures, the potential for renewed protests against across the deeply divided country could drive additional demand for handguns for self-defense, Dionisio said.

(Source: Reuters)

18, October 2020

Iran declares official termination of UN arms embargo ⁰

Iran’s Foreign Ministry says the UN Security Council’s arms restrictions against Tehran have all been terminated in defiance of the United States’ efforts.

“As of today [October 18, 2020], all restrictions on the transfer of arms, related activities and financial services to and from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and all prohibitions regarding the entry into or transit through territories of the United Nations Member States previously imposed on a number of Iranian citizens and military officials, are all automatically terminated,” a statement by the Foreign Ministry said.

The longstanding UN ban on the sale of arms from/to Iran is terminated under the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that blessed the 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers.

“As of today, the Islamic Republic may procure any necessary arms and equipment from any source without any legal restrictions, and solely based on its defensive needs, and may also export defensive armaments based on its own policies,” the Foreign Ministry added.

The statement made it clear that “the lifting of arms restrictions and the travel ban were designed to be automatic with no other action required.”

The Foreign Ministry said October 18 is “a momentous day for the international community,” praising the world for standing with Tehran “in defiance of the US regime’s efforts.”

The administration of US President Donald Trump suffered an embarrassing loss on August 14 as it failed to renew the Iranian arms embargo through a resolution at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Russia and China voted against the motion and the remaining 11 council members, including France, Germany and the UK, abstained.

Following the humiliating failure, the United States vowed to use its “secondary” sanctions to block any arms trades with Tehran after the expiry of the UN ban.

US Special Representative for Venezuela and Iran Elliott Abrams claimed last month that Washington could deny access to the US market to anyone who trades in weapons with Tehran.

Sanctions “will have a very significant impact” on arms manufacturers and traders that seek to do business with Tehran, he told reporters.

Source: Presstv

18, October 2020

Football: Bayern crush Arminia 4-1 with Lewandowski, Mueller doubles ⁰

Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller scored two goals each as the German champions crushed hosts Arminia Bielefeld 4-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday to move within a point of the top spot.

Mueller scored either side of Lewandowski’s double, with the Polish striker taking his season’s tally to seven league goals from four games, as Bayern moved to nine points, level with third-placed Borussia Dortmund and one behind leaders RB Leipzig, who won 2-0 at Augsburg.

Bayern, who also twice hit the woodwork, have a busy schedule, having played in the German Cup and league this week and next facing Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Mueller grabbed an eighth minute lead with a bit of luck after his first effort was saved but the ball bounced back into his path, while Lewandowski was left with far too much space to score with a well-placed shot in the 26th.

Arminia goalkeeper Stefan Ortega kept the scoreline respectable in the first half with several spectacular stops, including a sensational one-handed save from Lewandowski’s close-range header.

But the home keeper was beaten again with the last kick of the first half, a deflected shot from Lewandowski after good work from Mueller.

Bayern, who had to use changing rooms in a nearby school ahead of the game due to strict COVID-19 regulations, scored again six minutes after the restart when Lewandowski crossed and Mueller volleyed in from close range.

Arminia’s Japan international Ritsu Doan was rewarded for a fine performance with a goal in the 58th before Bayern were left with 10 men following the dismissal of Corentin Tolisso for a last-man foul.

(Source: Reuters)

18, October 2020

Covid-19 Crisis: Universities in Cameroon reopen after months of suspension ⁰

Universities and other higher education institutions in Cameroon started to welcome returning students on Thursday after a suspension of nearly seven months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The universities have adopted strict social distancing and all-round disinfections while receiving the returning students, officials said.

All students and teachers must wear face masks and check their temperature regularly, said Minister of Higher Education Jacques Fame Ndongo.

Some returning students told Xinhua that their emotional connection to their universities has become even deeper despite a long separation. “I feel like crying. Setting foot on campus after such a long time gives me deep satisfaction.

It was like I was in prison and now free. I’m so happy to start school again,” Gerard Batir, a sophomore of the University of Douala, told Xinhua.

Cameroon has so far recorded more than 20,000 coronavirus cases. COVID-19 prevalence in the country is generally decreasing with a recovery rate of 95 percent, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

Source: Xinhuanet

18, October 2020

Nigerian Governor seeks UN assistance on Southern Cameroons refugee problems ⁰

Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku of Taraba State has expressed dismay over the ongoing crisis in neighboring Cameroon, which he said had led to a refugee population of over 15,000 people in the state.

Five out of the 16 local government councils in the state, as observed by The Guardian share common boundaries with the Cameroon Republic, which have being bedeviled by leadership tussle. The situation has led to massive destruction of lives and property, and compelled several persons that fled the country to reside in Taraba.

Worried by the influx of the refugees into the state, Ishaku, while playing host to leaders of the various international agencies, pleaded with them to assist the state in tackling refugee problems it is presently contending with.

He informed the group that the crisis in the Cameroon had forced a refugee population of over 15,000 on the state, and has complicated the burden being borne by the state arising from Internally Displaced Persons, being a fall-out of the Boko Haram Insurgency in the North East part of the country.

Governor Ishaku requested other agencies of the UN to assist the state in the areas of housing and shelter, a problem, which a rapidly growing population has created. He said the state was doing its utmost to re-settle and rehabilitate those that were displaced by crisis in Southern Taraba, particularly in Chonku and Asa, adding that security was also being beefed up in those areas to encourage those who fled as a result of the crisis to return.

Listing tourism, agriculture and security as critical areas where the state would need the assistance of the UN agencies, Ishaku also used the opportunity to brief the UN officials on the achievements of his administration.

According to him, women and youth empowerment has been a critical area of focus for the administration and noted that thousands of people have benefitted from the programme.

In a paper presented during the session, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr. Edward Kallon said a UNDP-UNWOMEN-FAO inter-agency project supported by the UN Peace Building Fund was already going on in Taraba, Benue and Nasarawa states

He said: “In support of a harmonious and peaceful relationship between farmers and herders, the intervention would promote dialogue and proactive engagement for the mutual economic benefit of the two groups.” The UN, he said, “would also support the Taraba State government to minimise post-harvest losses through public-private partnerships and investments.

Using the occasion to remind state governments in Nigeria that COVID-19 would remain a major health challenge until the vaccine was found, he urged the government to take responsibility and lead by example in containing the virus.

Source: The Guardian