17, November 2018
Southern Cameroons: Religious sisters released one day after kidnapping 0
Three Franciscan sisters and 13 novices travelling from Bamenda to Shisong in Northwest Cameroon have been released, after they were captured by separatist fighters in the small village of Bamessing yesterday.
The hostage-takers were positively identified by an ecclesiastical source as the “Amba boys” – separatist fighters using hit-and-run tactics to engage the armed forces of the Republic of Cameroon in a guerilla warfare for the separation of English-speaking Cameroon from French-speaking Cameroon and the independence of the new nation they have named ‘Ambazonia.’
This nearly three-year conflict has led to several hundred deaths on both the militia and government forces sides, 300,000 refugees in Nigeria and more than 80,000 internally displaced persons in Cameroon.
The separatist fighters are known to dig up trenches on the main road leading from Bamenda, the capital city of the Northwest Region, to many other villages and towns surrounding it, mainly in a bid to prevent military transport and soldiers from reaching their hideouts.
The kidnappers held the religious sisters and their novices hostage in a remote bush overnight, as negotiations took place between an official of the Diocese of Kumbo and the hostage takers.
A source at the Diocese of Kumbo confirmed that the Amba boys had taken the sisters hostage because of what they perceived to be the support of the Church for a peace conference convened by Christian Cardinal Tumi.
The sisters and the novices were released unharmed on the afternoon of November 16. They were handed over to representatives of the Diocese of Kumbo. The conditions of their release were not clear.
Source: Catholic News Agency




















17, November 2018
Yaounde: Journalist charged for denouncing Cameroon army abuses in S.Cameroons 0
A Cameroon journalist has been charged with justifying terrorism, his lawyer told AFP on Friday, one of at least six reporters detained since a disputed presidential election on October 7.
Michel Biem Tong, who works for the internet site Hurinews.com was arrested on October 23 by army security forces, lawyer Essomba Tchoungui said.
He was charged on Thursday with “justifying terrorism, false declarations and insulting the head of state,” he added.
A support group noted that Tong was arrested following “a series of articles that denounced abuses by the Cameroon army in anglophone zones” of the country where separatists have clashed repeatedly with government forces.
In 2017, radicals gained the upper hand in the separatist anglophone movement and declared an independent state, the Republic of Ambazonia, which is not recognised internationally.
Since then, more than 200 members of the security forces and more than 500 civilians have died in clashes, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).
Source: AFP