Headline News

11, December 2018

You will regret invading Southern Cameroons: Restoration Forces warns Yaounde ⁰

The Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces under the direct supervision of the Ambazonia Self-Defense Council have issued a serious warning to troops loyal to the Biya regime in Yaoundé, saying that the regime will regret invading Southern Cameroons. In a statement which was released on Monday, the Ambazonia restoration fighters noted that various strategic locations in French Cameroun will be targeted soonest.

The document that was sent to our regional office in Buea further stated that there will be a response to every French Cameroun attack in Southern Cameroons. Earlier this week, the 85 year old President Biya appointed members to the so-called disarmament commission arguing them to facilitate an end to the crisis in Southern Cameroons.

The Ambazonia Self-Defense Council was formed following President Biya’s declaration of war and subsequent invasion of Southern Cameroons and the inter-state use of terror, abduction and rendition of His Excellency Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and members of the Ambazonian Interim Government to French Cameroun.

Since then, the movement has helped the Southern Cameroons Interim Government retake control of some Southern Cameroons counties from the Yaoundé regime and it is thwarting numerous French Cameroun acts of aggression.

Ever since the war started in Southern Cameroons, Francophone soldiers have not been able to distinguish between Amba fighters and the Southern Cameroons civilian population. Cameroon government troops are hitting Southern Cameroons and destroying its infrastructure.

By Sessekou Asu Isong with files from Sama Ernest

11, December 2018

Exiled Yahya Jammeh, family banned from entering U.S. ⁰

The United States has slapped a ban on former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh and his family from entering the country. The measure announced on Monday is largely related to charges of corruption and gross rights abuses during his 22 years in charge.

His wife, Zineb Yahya Jammeh, and his children, are also on the US blacklist relating to foreign leaders involved in large-scale corruption or serious human rights violations, according to a State Department statement.

The statement stressed the resolve of Washington in assisting the Adama Barrow -led government in the area of support for a transition to greater transparency, accountability and democratic governance.

Jammeh ruled The Gambia, a small English-speaking West African country, for 22 years until his defeat at the polls in 2016 by Adama Barrow.

He left power after the West African bloc ECOWAS threatened a military intervention. He is currently resident in Equatorial Guinea where regional leaders arranged for him to live in exile.

Source: Africa News

11, December 2018

The 5 highest paid presidents in Africa ⁰

People living in Africa have over the years lamented their continent’s over-dependence on other regions.

Even though the continent is blessed with natural resources such as minerals, vegetation, among others, the citizens of some countries live well below the poverty line.

According to reports, approximately 27.4% of the population in Africa was classified as severely food insecure in 2016, which is almost four times as high as any other region.

Meanwhile, politics has become a very lucrative career. Politicians are not only powerful, but their salaries are also very heavy.

In our present dispensation, African politicians earn a lot of money while citizens live poorly.

This is a reflection on the salaries some African leaders earn monthly.

1. Paul Biya

Paul Biya is the President of Cameroon. His monthly salary is $50,833.33. He is the highest paid African president.

2. Cyril Ramaphosa

Cyril Ramaphosa is the fifth president South Africa. He became president following the resignation of Jacob Zuma. Previously an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and businessman, Ramaphosa served as the Deputy President of South Africa from 2014 to 2018. He earns $21,174.67.00 every month.

3. Abdelaziz Bouteflika

Abdelaziz Bouteflika is the fifth president of Algeria and has been in office since 1999. He is the third-highest paid president in Africa. His monthly salary is $14,000.

4. Uruhu Kenyatta

Uhuru Kenyatta is the current president of Kenya. He came into office in April 2013. He is the fourth highest paid president in Africa even though he ordered that some percentage of his salary should be cut off in 2014. He earns $13,860 monthly.

5. Emmerson Mnangagwa

Emmerson Mnangagwa is the third and current president of Zimbabwe. He assumed office in November 2017 after Robert Mugabe was ousted. He is ranked the fifth highest paid African president. He earns $12, 272.08 monthly.

Source:Pulse.com

11, December 2018

Amnesty urges ICC to investigate Boko Haram conflict atrocities ⁰

Amnesty International urges the International Criminal Court (ICC) to launch a full-blown probe into the atrocities committed by both the Boko Haram terrorists and the Nigerian military during the militancy campaign in the African country, criticizing Abuja for not doing enough to bring those responsible to justice.

The UK-based human rights group said the Abuja government was keeping ICC chief prosecutor Fatma Bensouda “in limbo” by giving the impression of domestic action on the crimes perpetrated by both the Boko Haram terrorists and the Nigerian troops, but it is in reality doing very little on the matter.

Bensouda had opened a preliminary examination in 2010 into cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity during Boko Haram’s campaign, which had begun a year earlier. Six cases relate to the militants and include the killing of civilians, mass kidnapping, attacks on schools and places of worship, sexual violence, plus the use of children in conflict.

The other two — involving attacks on civilians, mass arrests and detention of suspects, abuse, torture and summary executions — concern the Nigerian military. “Eight years since the opening of the preliminary examination and faced with the continuing commission of crimes under international law and the possibility of a never-ending preliminary analysis, it is time for the OTP (Office of the Prosecutor) to open a formal investigation in Nigeria,” Amnesty said in a statement.

The statement came days after Bensouda said in her annual report on December 5 that there appeared to be a “tangible prospect” of proceedings against Boko Haram members, but not against troops “since the Nigerian authorities tend to deny any allegation.”

Amnesty complained that Nigeria’s government has not conducted any relevant proceedings into the atrocities, war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by both Boko Haram militants and the Nigerian forces. This edition of the program talks about Boko Haram terror threats in Nigeria and the inability of the government to contain the Takfiri group.

It also suggested that most of the investigations and prosecutions conducted by the Nigerian justice system against alleged members of the Boko Haram group, as well as the military, were not in proportion to the scope and severity of the crimes and atrocities committed by both sides of the conflict in northeastern Nigeria.

Amnesty also said none of the more than 20 government inquiries launched into claims of abuse by troops and civilian militia members in the last nine years has led to formal investigations and prosecutions.

The proceedings seemed to have been designed to provide a “veneer of accountability” and exonerate senior officers and “shield persons concerned from criminal responsibility,” Amnesty added.

The report indicates that 5,161 Muslims have also sustained various degrees of injuries. It described mass trials of more than 1,000 suspects that began in October 2017 were as a “sham” meant to provide “legal cover” for those held in prolonged, arbitrary and unlawful detention.

Prosecutions were based on unreliable and untested confessions or guilty pleas, while defendants had a lack of access to lawyers and trials were rushed through.

Since 2009, the militants have killed at least 20,000 dead and made over 2.6 million others homeless. In 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the Takfiri Daesh group.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a former general, came to power in 2015 on a platform of stamping out the Boko Haram militancy. But despite retaking swathes of territory from the group, it continues to stage attacks targeting both civilians and military targets.

Source:Presstv

10, December 2018

Biya’s efforts to regain lost power in Ambazonia will never come true ⁰

A Southern Cameroons commander in Lebialem has said that the Biya dream of restoring French Cameroun lost power in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia in cooperation with Nigeria’s ailing Buhari will never come true. “The Biya Francophone regime, in cooperation with the corrupt Buhari administration in Nigeria, is trying to restore its power in Southern Cameroons,” the Red Dragons commander in Menji told Cameroon Intelligence Report.

The Red Dragons senior military figure whose name we are withholding further referred to the Nigerian President Buhari’s role in the crisis, saying Buhari is forcefully repatriating Southern Cameroonians to be slaughtered on the pretext that they serve Nigeria’s strategic interests and stability in the Gulf of Guinea.

The Red Dragons chief says the Biya and the French Cameroun army have failed in all the plots they hatched to advance their own agenda in Southern Cameroons. The war between Southern Cameroons and French Cameroun began last year with the French Cameroun army launching onslaught against Southern Cameroons towns and villages as well as the positions of the Ambazonia Restoration Forces. The war has resulted in the burning down of some one hundred villages and the deaths of over 4,000 Southern Cameroons civilians.

Some 1400 Cameroon government army soldiers have also been killed during the fighting. Yaounde has not realized that it cannot bully Southern Cameroons into submission and has rejected calls for inclusive and genuine dialogue with the Ambazonian Interim Government.

The recent French Cameroun military aggression against the Red Dragons of Lebialem saw several French Cameroun soldiers killed and several others injured. The UN, the EU and the AU have all undermined regional stability by taking a hard line in favour of the Biya Francophone regime and against Ambazonians.

By Chi Prudence Asong

10, December 2018

Nigeria: PDP accuses government of blocking Governor Peter Obi’s account ⁰

Nigeria’s main opposition party said authorities had frozen the bank accounts of its vice presidential candidate in the run-up to elections next February.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said late on Saturday accounts belonging to Peter Obi, its vice presidential candidate, his wife, family members and their businesses had been blocked by government agencies. The PDP did not identify them.

The presidency could not be reached for comment.

“Why is the presidency on a wild goose chase in investigating Peter Obi, who left office as Governor of Anambra state five years ago with a nationally acclaimed clean record,” the PDP said in a statement.

President Muhammadu Buhari last month launched his campaign for re-election for a second term, running on his track record on corruption. Buhari’s handling of a struggling economy will also be a central campaign issue.

PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, a former ally to Buhari, chose as running mate Obi, 57, to generate support in the southeast region, which includes Anambra, where the president has polled badly in past elections.

Geographical affiliations in Nigeria are crucial in a sprawling nation of 190 million people from 250 ethnic groups. With a tight race in prospect, a strong showing in the southeast could give the PDP enough votes to deny Buhari, a former military ruler, a second four-year term.

Source: Reuters

10, December 2018

2019 Women’s World Cup: Nigeria, SA, Cameroon in tough groups ⁰

The draw has been held for next years’ FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held in France.

Africa’s representatives: the Super Falcons of Nigeria, South Africa’s Banyana Banyana and Cameroon’s Indomitable Lionesses have been drawn in groups considered to be tough.

The Super Falcons who earlier were crowned African champions were drawn in Group A along side host country, France, South Korea and Norway.

Africa’s second-best Banyana Banyana are drawn in group B with two times winner, Germany. China and Spain complete the teams in the group.

On the part of the Indomitable Lionesses, they have to deal with Canada, Netherlands and New Zealand in group E.

Analysts hold that across the board it is a pretty mouthwatering draw which would make for interesting display when the games kick off in Paris and other French cities.

A total of 52 matches will be played to determine the winner. Africa has usually struggled at previous tournaments.

Earlier this year, Africa’s representatives at the main World Cup in Russia, failed to achieve qualification past the group stages. Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal were all kicked out in the group stages.

France went on to win thecompetition beating Croatia in the final. The composition of the French team,gave Africa something to celebrate, given that it was dominated by players withAfrica roots.

Source:Africa News

10, December 2018

Sudan: Governor, six others killed in helicopter mishap ⁰

At least seven local government officials were killed in a helicopter crash in Sudan’s eastern al-Qadarif state on Sunday, state news agency SUNA reported.

The state’s governor and three security officials were among the dead. A number of people were also injured in the incident, SUNA said. The officials had been carrying out a security tour of the province.

It was not immediately clear what caused the crash. State TV earlier reported that a plane, not a helicopter, had crashed. Al-Qadarif state is known for its farmland and agricultural projects.

The governor of Gadaref state in Sudan, Mirghani Saleh, and a number of his companions died today morning after a helicopter crash

REUTERS

9, December 2018

French Cameroun’s judicial weapon of genocide: Ethnic Beti-Bulu Genocidal Court-Martial Task Force ⁰

From when the genocide mastermind and President of French Cameroun declared war against the Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia on 30 November 2017, Cameroon Concord News Group began exposing the details of the preplanned genocide against Ambazonia. Key actors in the preplanning and execution of the genocide closely supervised by Paul Biya himself made public statements which left no one in doubt about their involvement and their significant contribution to the criminal enterprise. Among a plethora of individual and institutional masterminds are Laurent Esso, Fame Ndongo, Biti Assoumou, Okada Bilai, Lele L’Afrique, George Tabetando, Atanga Nji, Philemon Yang, Patrick Ekema, Isa Tchiroma Bakary, Eno Meyomesse, Owona Nguini, television 4, Ernest Obama, CTRV. Added to this inexhaustible list are several military commanders deployed to execute the genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in and out the territory of Ambazonia.

George Tabetando, a Southern Cameroonian participant in the planning of the genocide publicly stated during a French Cameroun sanctioned meeting in Buea and in live interviews over CRTV that it was he and Mafany Musonge who advised Paul Biya to impose an internet ban that lasted over three months on the territory of Ambazonia. Mafany Musonge promptly denied his involvement in the criminal conduct.

It is green in our individual and collective memories that the internet ban facilitated the elaborate extermination of armless Ambazonians, the rape of Ambazonia girls and women; paralyzed the economy of Ambazonia, its educational institutions, hospitals, the pillaging of its natural resources and launched the ongoing genocide. The internet ban also facilitated the abduction of thousands of the citizens of Ambazonia to concentration camps and underground dungeons in French Cameroun. Many of them were tortured to death in detention and many others have since been brought before a court-martial and promptly convicted in sham trials conducted in furtherance of the genocidal policies of French Cameroun.

The abduction and rendition to French Cameroun from Nigeria of the President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, His Excellency, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and members of the Interim Government escalated and internationalized the conflict and the crimes committed in and out of Ambazonia against citizens of Ambazonia. The President and members of the Interim Government were legally in Nigeria under the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The inter-state use of terror, abduction and rendition of His Excellency Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and members of the Interim Government, to French Cameroun outlawed in international law, places French Cameroun and Nigeria as state party apologists and sponsors of international terrorism which threatens world peace and security. Nigeria through the national security adviser to President Mohammedu Buhari Baba Gana Mugano and French Cameroun through government spokesman Isa Bakary publicly made official statements on behalf of their respective governments admitting the shameful acts of international criminality. Cameroun Concord News Group warned then, that left unsanctioned by the United Nations, the inter-state use of terror and abduction, by these countries might, provide a fig leaf of legitimacy and embolden Boko Haram and armed groups worldwide in their modus operandi of using terror and abduction to victimize and destabilize significant parts of the world.

The inter-state terrorism by French Cameroun and Nigeria on whom the international community is relying on to combat that form of outlawed international criminality, validates the claims by keen observers that the two states are indeed the sponsors of Boko Haram. This explains why the war against Boko Haram cannot succeed because Boko Haram masterminds cannot meaningfully lead the war against themselves. The slaughter of hundreds of thousands of poor, jobless and uneducated youth in both countries is a mere subterfuge to conceal the Boko Haram criminal activities of the political, military and economic official structures within both countries. The real enemies are the crime syndicates in power in Nigeria and French Cameroun and Daesh/Isis political Islamic conglomerate operating in the Sahel and the sub-region of which the ethnic political cabal in and out of the Buhari presidency and the Paul Biya crime syndicate are key participants.

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and members of the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia may be said to be lucky survivals of the ruthless hit squad that had a mandate to abduct and kill them immediately. The inter-state cooperation in this crime was not an isolated event. The government of Buhari and Paul Biya are united in economic and commercial terrorism arising from the imperial and neo-colonial exploitation of the oil and natural resources from the Niger Delta, and the Southern Cameroons.

The strong opposition by the exploited communities over many years threatens the pecuniary interests of these masterminds of economic and commercial terrorism. Boko Haram provides a basis for them to eternalize power and provides an alibi for the channeling of funds to sustain economic and commercial terrorism against Ambazonia, the Niger Delta and South Eastern Nigeria.

Once the occasion to promptly assassinate Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and others failed, the problem about how to dispose of him and others has preoccupied the inter-state coconspirators. French Cameroun decided to empanel a court-martial that was already very active in the execution of the genocide against Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia to put them on trial.

The court-martial is presided over by Colonel Abega Mbezoa epouse Eko Eko. The other members are Edou Mewoutou and Ngouongue. The commissioners of government are Engono Eric and Tanjmou Dang Assabe. The entire court-martial is made up of Beti-Bulu ethnic power elite, members of Essingan and like Clement Atangana, the President of the constitutional court of French Cameroun, members of the CPDM crime syndicate. In addition to its ethnic composition and royalty, the court-martial is under the direct command responsibility of Paul Biya, the Commander-in- Chief of the French Cameroun genocidal armed forces that are executing the genocide of Ambazonians.

Apart from the multilayered conflict of interests, ethnic, political and military command and control of the court-martialand concerns over this court-martial, the Presiding Judge of the court-martial is the wife of one of the key actors in the prosecution of the war and genocide of Ambazonia Leopold Maxime Eko Eko. He actively participated in the abduction and rendition of Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and others to French Cameroun. It is therefore a case of the husband overseeing the genocide, the massacres and the abductions of Ambazonians in and outside their country and the wife sitting in judgment to complement the crimes of her husband by providing a legal cover to them.

Leopold Maxime Eko Eko since 2010, is the director general of DGRE (Direction Générale de Recherche Exterieure) formerly known as SEDOC, DIRDOC and CENER. He operates in collaboration with the National Security Council whose Secretary-General is the criminal kingpin, Atanga Nji.

It is a matter of grave concern to Cameroon Concord News Group that Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and others over whom the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has asserted jurisdiction should be allowed by the civilized world to stand trial in a court-martial that itself is actively involved in the genocide and the wider economic and commercial terrorism in Ambazonia. Cameroon Concord News Group strongly urges the United Nations and the International Community to step forth and stop this creative use of this court-martial tool of genocide from legitimizing this mother of all crimes that the free world promised to banish. French Cameroun’s empaneled Beti-Bulu ethnic genocidal-martial is a judicial weapon of genocide and must be stopped by the international community.

To this I put my name

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

9, December 2018

President Buhari pushing Nigeria to the brink ⁰

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday for the fourth time, rejected assent to the Electoral Bill which was passed to him to sign into law by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. President Buhari who has written to the lower and Upper chamber said that he could not sign the Electoral Bill into law at this time that the country was preparing for the 2019 Presidential and general elections, adding that he could only assent to it after next year’s elections.

He said that if it was done now, it would endup causing uncertainty and crisis in the land. Meanwhile, the PeoplesDemocratic Party Presidential Campaign Organization, PPCO, has charged membersof the National Assembly to save thenation’s democracy by immediately overriding President Muhammadu Buhari’srefusal to sign the amendment of the Electoral Act.

Signing amended Electoral Act for 2019 elections will create uncertainty, crisis – Buhari

In the letter dated 6th December, 2018 and addressed to both the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and Speaker, House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara which was received yesterday, President Buhari said that he would only sign the bill after the elections, just as he identified some aspects of the bill that should be corrected by the lawmakers.

President Buhari’s letter read, “Pursuant to Section 58(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ( 1999 as amended), I hereby convey to the Senate my decision on 6th December, 2018 to decline assent to the Electoral( Amendment) Bill, 2018 recently passed by the National Assembly. “I am declining assent to the bill principally because I am concerned that passing a new electoral bill this far into the electoral process for the 2019 general elections which commenced under the 2015 electoral act, could create some uncertainty about the applicable legislation to govern the process. Any real or apparent change to the rules this close to the election may provide an opportunity for disruption and confusion in respect of which law governs the electoral process. “This leads me to believe that it is in the best interest of the country and our democracy for the national assembly to specifically state in the bill that the electoral act will come into effect and be applicable to elections commencing after the 2019 elections .

President pushing Nigeria to the brink—PDP

In its reaction, the PDP Presidential Campaign Council in a statement by the Director, Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan on Friday said the legislative action has become imperative as the President’s decision is “a calculated attempt to hold the nation to ransom, inject crisis into the electoral process and ultimately scuttle the conduct of the 2019 general elections.” The statement read in part: “President Buhari’s repeated refusal to sign amendments passed to check rigging of election, raises issues of his sincerity of purpose and has the capacity to trigger political unrest and violence, which can, in turn, truncate our hard-earned democracy. “The PPCO invites Nigerians to note that this is the fourth time President Buhari is withholding assent on the amendment, without any cogent reason following his rejection by Nigerians. “Nigerians can recall how the Presidency plotted to plunge the 2019 elections into a needless controversy by delaying the submission of the election budget to the National Assembly, presenting it at the time the legislators were commencing their annual vacation and asking for virement of funds already approved for development projects, instead of sending a fresh supplementary budget for the election. “It is unfortunate that Mr. President, in his desperation to hold on to power, has resorted to taking steps that are capable of destabilizing our nation, just because the people are resolute in voting him out of office democratically. “It is also instructive to note that President Buhari is mortally afraid of the amendments because they essentially checked the All Progressives Congress, APC, rigging plans, including the use of underage and alien voters, vote-buying, alteration of results and manipulation of voter register”.

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