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Nigeria: Scores dead in church collapse

11, December 2016

Nigeria: Scores dead in church collapse 0

A church collapse in southern Nigeria has taken the lives of a large number of worshipers who had gathered there for a service. Medical officials have so far confirmed 160 people dead, predicting that the final death toll could be much higher. Rescue operations are still underway to find potential survivors. Hundreds of people were inside the church in Uyo in Akwa Ibom state when metal girders crashed onto worshipers and the corrugated iron roof caved in.

The church was under construction and workers had to finish the job hastily for the service. The government is now set to launch an inquiry to find out if anyone compromised building standards. The state governor Udom Emmanuel was attending the ceremony in the church when the incident happened, but he was able to escape.

In a statement, he described the collapse as “an unfortunate incident” and said he “shared in the agony of the moment.” President Muhammadu Buhari has also offered his condolences. “I asked the Governor to convey to the people of Akwa Ibom the deep sorrow felt by me, and by the entire country, over this tragedy,” he said.

The president added, “I pray that the souls of the deceased will rest in peace, and that the injured will experience quick recovery.” Incidents as such are fairly common in Nigeria owing to the corruption of contractors and the use of substandard materials. Some are said to even bribe inspectors to ignore the risks. In 2014, 116 people lost their lives when a multi-story guesthouse of a church collapsed in Lagos, the country’s largest city.

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Gambia: President Yahya Jammeh rejects presidential poll a week after conceding defeat

10, December 2016

Gambia: President Yahya Jammeh rejects presidential poll a week after conceding defeat 0

Gambia’s long-time President Yahya Jammeh has rejected the results of the country’s recent presidential election a week after conceding defeat to his rival. “I hereby reject the results in totality,” Jammeh said in a televised address late Friday, insisting that investigations since the December 1 poll have revealed a number of voting irregularities, which he described as unacceptable. “Let me repeat: I will not accept the results based on what has happened,” added Jammeh, who has ruled the West African country for more than 22 years.

During the address, the Gambian ruler further underlined that some figures in the election results had been transposed and that voter turnout had been suppressed. “Our investigations reveal that in some cases voters were told that the opposition has already won and that there was no need for them to vote and, out of anger, some of them returned home,” Jammeh said.

The remarks came just a week after he was shown on state television calling opposition candidate Adama Barrow and cheerfully wishing him the best. “You are the elected president of The Gambia, and I wish you all the best,” Jammeh said to Barrow at the time, adding, “I have no ill will.” The striking turnaround is expected to incite indignation among the opposition as well as a large number of Gambians living in exile abroad. This is while in the week since Jammeh conceded defeat, dozens of political prisoners had already been set free on bail.

It remains to be seen whether the small African country of only 1.9 million people would tolerate Jammeh’s renewed rule. Following news reports about his defeat last week, Gambians reportedly took to the streets – singing, dancing and shouting “Freedom!” Western governments have been especially critical of Jammeh’s rule in Gambia pointing to his directives to quit the commonwealth of former British colonies and the Western-led International Criminal Court (ICC). In quitting the Commonwealth in 2013, Jammeh described the organization as a “neo-colonial institution.” He also announced in October that Gambia would leave the ICC, which he dismissed as the “International Caucasian Court.”

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Cardinal Tumi condemns Philemon Yang, says there is an Anglophone problem

10, December 2016

Cardinal Tumi condemns Philemon Yang, says there is an Anglophone problem 2

Cardinal Christian Tumi has reacted publicly to the crisis that is shaking the English-speaking regions of Cameroon. In an interview on Radio Balafon, a Douala-based radio station the prelate said that there is indeed an Anglophone problem in Cameroon. The former Archbishop of Garoua and Douala believes it is possible that those who govern us unconsciously may not know that there is an Anglophone problem. He recounted to illustrate his anecdote about the former French leader Charles de Gaulle who reportedly questioned his Cameroon interlocutor: “English for what?”

Christian Tumi argued that the fate of Anglophones in Cameroon has changed.  Said the prelate “Since then, we have tried to erase what is Anglo-Saxon unconsciously. I continue to say unconsciously.” The retired Cardinal added that Ni John Fru Ndi would have led Cameroon in 1992 if he was a francophone. “You know very well what happened in 1992. Many Cameroonians are now convinced that the winner of the elections in 1992 was an anglophone: Fru Ndi. And many are convinced that if Fru Ndi was francophone he would be President of Cameroon at least since 1992. True or false I do not know.

Returning to the crisis in recent weeks in the North-West and South-West, Christian Tumi noted that it is not well managed.  “The Archbishop of Bamenda told me that the Prime Minister had received them. And he told me that he thought they were willing to sacrifice all day to thoroughly discuss this problem. The Prime Minister received the leaders of the religious denominations for about thirty minutes. He told me that he said, “This is what we should not do, that’s what we have to do.” It is not dialogue. In dialogue one must assume that the other can have the truth that saves. We must listen to it and have what I would call intellectual honesty and accept the truth, whatever its origin. Whether it comes from the opposition or the people who are on strike, you have to be open. Not coming as an authority.”

The Cardinal criticized the fact that Philemon Yang received during his first mission to Bamenda the groups affected by the crisis on an individual basis. The Cardinal would have liked to see the Prime Minister received those who went on strike, talk to them, and listen to their grievances.

By Sama Ernest with files from CIN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fresh fighting in Congo-Brazzaville between government forces and Ninja Nsiloulou rebels

9, December 2016

Fresh fighting in Congo-Brazzaville between government forces and Ninja Nsiloulou rebels 0

Fresh fighting in the Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, between government forces and rebels has forced thousands of people to flee their homes. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) warned on Friday that fighting in the southeast of the country had displaced an estimated 13,000 people. “We are afraid some 13,000 displaced people soon may not have enough to eat,” UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland. People in the area are “also having trouble getting health care and education because so many state-employed medics and teachers have fled,” he added.

Spindler said that the uptick in violence in recent weeks between the Ninja Nsiloulou rebels and government forces has included an attack on a military vehicle in the southeastern district of Mindouli that killed two people. The rebels, who fought two civil wars against the government in the 1990s, were seen as having been mostly disbanded after agreeing to a peace accord in 2003. However, sporadic clashes between the two sides have continued ever since.

In October, at least 14 people, including children, were killed in an attack on a train in Mindouli. The assault was blamed on the Ninja rebels. The situation in Congo-Brazzaville had been tense since a constitutional referendum in October 2015 removed a two-term limit on the presidency, allowing the 72-year-old leader to run in the 2016 election.

The rebels are led by a Protestant pastor named Frederic Bintsamou, who his followers call the Prophet. Bintsamou came out in favor of opposition presidential candidate Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas in elections in March 2016. However, the opposition candidate lost to longtime leader Denis Sassou Nguesso. Sassou Nguesso won re-election in the first round of voting, receiving 60 percent of the votes. The opposition claimed the election was a sham.

Presstv

Francophone army kills 5 in Kumba

9, December 2016

Francophone army kills 5 in Kumba 0

The Francophone army has killed at least five Southern Cameroonians in Kumba, the chief city in Meme Division in the South West region. The Anglophone freedom fighters were killed today Friday during a protest. Government forces have sealed the city and are currently carrying out what eye witnesses have described as a massacre.

Several other people have been seriously injured in a shootout between the troops and civilians armed with catapults.  The Francophone elite forces involved in the operation are performing a precursor operation aimed at getting rid of all forms of Anglophone resistance in the South West region. Our reporter in Kumba has confirmed that two bodies have been identified at the Kumba General Hospital.

By Sonne Peter

Anglophone Problem: Violence begets violence

9, December 2016

Anglophone Problem: Violence begets violence 0

The violence that was served to residents of Bamenda on Thursday, December 9, 2016, following demonstrations in the North West regional capital should not be part of the country’s history if the culture of dialogue and tolerance had been sown in the collective psyche. The negotiating table was also designed for Cameroonians and the country’s government should be promoting this culture that has served other people and stood the test of time. The demonstrations that were started by lawyers were designed to be peaceful until the forces of law and order came to sow disorder. Many lawyers were brutalized and this has drawn the ire and flak of many Anglophones who now hold that the government is not interested in addressing their issues in a peaceful manner. Yesterday’s killings in Bamenda constitute irrefutable proof of the government’s arrogance and determination to push the country into the abyss of violent conflict.

While ordinary, armless and peaceful Anglophones are simply calling for their leaders to listen to them, the government which is supposed to be leading from the front seems to be looking for an excuse to mow down its own citizens and Bamenda did serve yesterday as a training ground for the military to put into practice its own killing skills. Such violence does not create proper room for meaningful dialogue. Taking down your own citizens only makes matters worse. Violence, regardless of the form, only begets violence. If demonstrations by Anglophones are not considered legal, what could have justified the CPDM march that was supposed to take place in Bamenda? Just a few days ago, SDF parliamentarians were blocked in a hotel in Buea just because they wanted to demonstrate their support for the striking Anglophone Cameroonians. If the SDF march in support of angry Anglophone teachers and lawyers was not right, why did CPDM stalwarts think their own march in Bamenda would be considered right and appropriate by a people who feel frustrated and marginalized? Does this not look like a double standard? Why should there be different strokes for different folks? When will the government and ruling party understand that tricks of the past cannot really produce the same results in a new era?

In a genuine democracy, it is normal for frustrated citizens to make their angst known to their leaders without resorting to violence. But when government officials seem to live in an Ivory tower, it becomes challenging for dialogue to actually take place. When will Cameroon government officials come down from their pseudo pedestal of superiority to have frank and meaningful discussions with the people they government? This is not the attitude to develop when running a country with different linguistic blocs and multiple tribes. It is preposterous to hold that unity and peace will always prevail and that weapons will always intimidate the people. Differences of opinion will always exist in such societies, but it is incumbent upon the government to play its role as a stabilizing force. Cameroonians, especially those of Anglophone extraction, sincerely think that there is no true and reliable partner on the other side for them to have real discussions on those issues that have made the union feel and smell like a very bad marriage. In their view, it is hard to achieve anything in their country without taking to the streets. They point to the creation of more universities in 1993 in the country and this only happened after long and painful demonstrations wherein some of their compatriots were killed by the people who weresupposed to protect. Multiparty politics was birthed in bloodshed in Cameroon and the memories of the past are still very fresh. The country is still littered with victims of this period. The psychological and physical scars are still there and the people, especially North-westerners, will surely not forget those bad and ugly days. Such examples only come to strengthen the argument that citizens of this country cannot achieve anything without bloodshed.  Some even assert that even the government comes to the negotiating table, it ends up speaking from both sides of its mouth. Isn’t it time for the government to clean up its own act?

Like their Francophone counterparts, Anglophones simply want the government to lend an ear to their cry. They are slowly running out of tears and blood seems to be replacing tears. The need for dialogue is not new in Cameroon. Even in the days of the country’s first president, Anglophones always called for dialogue, although the cries fell on deaf ears and their marginalization and assimilation gathered full momentum when the country’s first president yielded power to the current president.

In a letter to President Ahmadou Ahidjo in 1964, Prof. Bernard Fonlon said that  “A traveler on the road stops from time to time to look back and see the ground he has covered; merchants close shops at intervals to take stock; users of machines are bound to service and overhaul them now and again. Thus it is the most natural of things for the people engaged in an enterprise such as this to halt, once in a while, to see how much ground has been covered, to draw up their balance sheet, to service or overhaul, if need be, the machinery of the State.” This implies that both Anglophones and Francophones should come to the table to assess the state of their union. It also implies that Anglophones have been crying for a very long time and the government be it the current or the past one has been totally indifferent to their sorry plight.

Prof. Fonlon like current Anglophones had called for genuine dialogue. He summed up the Anglophone spirit of dialogue in the following words, calling on the government not to view an assessment of the union as a challenge. “We shall call upon you, therefore, brothers and co-builders, to hear us with sympathetic understanding. As I have said, again and again, we are not making this appeal in a fault finding spirit. We are making it because of our love for this country, because of our faith in its destiny, because of our concern for this welfare and prestige. We make it because we are mindful of the solemn words of practical wisdom addressed to all builders in the Sermon on the Mount.”

Cameroon political authorities should lend an ear to their people. Dialogue is the answer. Violence has never addressed any issues. Violence only begets violence. Government authorities can spare this beautiful nation the scourge of war if they embrace dialogue and peaceful resolution of conflicts. Provocations, regardless of the form, only cause problems to escalate.

Dr Joachim Arrey

Cameroon Concord News Group

Southern Cameroons militant group vows to blow up pipelines in SONARA

9, December 2016

Southern Cameroons militant group vows to blow up pipelines in SONARA 0

A Southern Cameroon militant group in Mutengene in the South West region has reportedly given the Biya regime an ultimatum to withdraw all its troops from Bamenda or face severe consequences. Cameroon Concord News has been reliably informed that the group has vowed to blow up pipelines in SONARA.

A spokesperson for the group was quoted as saying that if the Biya administration fails to demilitarize the North West region, the group will begin vandalizing pipelines anytime soonest.  They claim that the Francophone government was exploiting and terrorizing Southern Cameroonians.

Troops from La Republique du Cameroun backed by helicopters killed dozens of Southern Cameroonians in Bamenda on Thursday the 8th of December following violent protest that rocked the entire North West region.

By Rita Akana

 

 

Biya mocks anti social network cabinet ministers

9, December 2016

Biya mocks anti social network cabinet ministers 0

Biya has made a mockery of his cabinet ministers who have been clamoring for a ban on social media. The Cameroonian leader and his wife during a reception on Thursday at the Etoudi Palace in honor of the indomitable Lionesses, finalists of the 10th edition of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations appeared in a different light alongside the indomitable Lionesses and went into selfie frenzy.

The 83 year old dictator took the selfie all smiles and full of energy and under the watchful eyes of ministers hostile to social networks. Alongside the female football players, Biya and his wife had many selfies that has reportedly aroused reactions of admiration even among the fiercest critics of the regime.  Questions are now being asked if it was a kind of political communication or a simple seduction operation.

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By Kingsley Ebong in Yaounde

CPDM crime syndicate cancels Bamenda “peaceful rally”, PM still in hiding

9, December 2016

CPDM crime syndicate cancels Bamenda “peaceful rally”, PM still in hiding 0

The Prime Minister and the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the ruling CPDM have cancelled a planned pro Biya Francophone CPDM rally that was to hold in Bamenda this week. The decision was made public by Jean Nkwete, the Secretary General of the ruling party as he was escorted out of Ayaba Hotel late last night by security agents. Cameroon Concord News understands the Prime Minister and Minister Atanga Nji are still hiding in one of the rooms in Ayaba.

Urban guerrilla scenes in Bamenda staged by young Southern Cameroonians who were opposed to the holding of the so-called “peace meeting” prompted the decision. The freedom fighters multiplied their acts of violence that eventually pushed Prime Minister Philemon Yang and his entourage into hiding. The Francophone defense and security forces that intervened found it hard to contain the protesters who break and burn.

Dozens of the freedom fighters were shot dead and many wounded. The official record of these bloody clashes has not yet been published by the authorities. Given this renewed violence, the CPDM party that has for 34 years marginalized the Anglophone communities decided to cancel the meeting, which caused the escalation of tension in the capital of the Northwest Region.

The meeting of the CPDM consortium of crime syndicates was coordinated by Philemon Yang, Prime Minister, Head of Government and Jean Nkuété, Secretary General of the Central Committee who wanted through this forum to inform international public opinion that Cameroon was one and indivisible.  Mood movements and strikes by Anglophone teachers and lawyers have paralyzed the activities in British Southern Cameroons for several weeks, despite the Francophone government’s proposals to end the crisis.

By Sonne Peter in Bamenda

8, December 2016

Anglophone Uprising: 2 killed and nearly 100 wounded in Bamenda 0

Nearly 100 people have been wounded and 2 killed in today’s clashes in the North West regional capital of Bamenda, the worst outbreak of violence since the Anglophone uprising.

Witnesses and journalists at Commercial Avenue, a hotspot neighbourhood for anti-government demonstration in recent months reported seeing bodies in the street and two apparently shot at close range.

Other witnesses reported further bodies seen lying in streets in other parts of the city. A journalist with Cameroon Intelligence Report described one of the victims as “kid” and said he had been shot execution-style “through the top of the skull”.

It is an absolute horror; those who committed this are war criminals. Blasts and gunfire echoed around T-junction for most of today after heavily armed soldiers attacked civilians protesting against a visiting Prime Minister.

There are fears that Cameroon is slowly but surely sliding into ethnic conflict as hatred for French speaking tribes keeps mounting.

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By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Sama Ernest

 

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