“Biafra youth form alliance with Anglophone secessionists”

DISCLAIMER:

The attention of the Interim Gov’t of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia has been drawn to a fabricated cover story in The Guardian Post newspaper No. 1313 of Thursday December 7, 2017

The story, titled “Biafra youth form alliance with Anglophone secessionists,” which is essentially an advertorial paid for by the Cameroun Gov’t, is a frame-up meant to discredit the Ambazonia Interim Gov’t and to smear relations with the Federal Gov’t of Nigeria which is home to thousands of refugees fleeing genocide, arrest and torture by Cameroun troops. The Guardian Post story states that the IG is forming an alliance with a group of Nigerians to fight the Gov’t of Cameroun. That is not true.

We note that the Republic of Cameroun first began circulating this narrative on social media before sponsoring the Guardian Post to run the story. The Post did not care to verify the story, nor did it care to corroborate their facts with the IG since it was a hit job.

The Interim Gov’t renounces the story and any form of relationship as reported therein with any group or groups in any part of Nigeria. The Guardian Post will do well to begin practicing real journalism instead of ‘jumbo’ and sensational reports that leave the publication without integrity. What the Guardian Post has published is a disservice and a disgrace to the profession of journalism.

The IG of Ambazonia has made it clear time and again that Ambazonia is neither a secessionist nor separatist movement or Gov’t. It is a restorationist Gov’t. Ambazonians are neither seceding nor separating because nothing, nothing bound us before with the Republic of Cameroun. If the Republic of Cameroun thinks there is, then the burden is theirs to prove.

Let it be made known in no uncertain terms that when it comes to defending our country, the IG needs no alliances to do so. Should Paul Biya and his gov’t take us down that route, Ambazonians can rest assured that we will be well able to defend our land without depending on any foreign alliances or groups.

SIGNED: Chris Anu

Communication Secretary,

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

Cameroon must act swiftly on the recommendations published today by the UN Committee against Torture and put an end to the widespread use of torture by security forces fighting Boko Haram, Amnesty International said.

The Committee expressed deep concerns about the use of secret torture chambers documented by Amnesty International in July, and its failure to clarify whether investigations were being carried into these allegations, as well as other reports of killings of civilians and enforced disappearances.

“With the Committee against Torture now also demanding an end to the use of torture in Cameroon, it is becoming impossible for the world to ignore the widespread practice of torture in the country,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, Amnesty International’s Lake Chad researcher.

“The clamour for justice is growing and Cameroonian authorities should respond by taking these reports of torture far more seriously and launching an independent and efficient investigation into these horrific practices.”

Based on submissions from organisations including Amnesty International, the UN Committee noted that large numbers of people from Cameroon’s Far North region are likely to have been held incommunicado and tortured by members of the military and the intelligence services in at least 20 illegal detention facilities between 2013 and 2017.

The Committee also raised concerns that this torture took place with the likely knowledge of senior BIR and intelligence officers at one military base, and that dozens of people may have died following torture and inhuman conditions of detention.

In its recommendations the Committee called on Cameroon to publish a declaration from the highest state level affirming an absolute prohibition on torture and other ill-treatment and put an end to the practice of incommunicado detention.

It also called for effective, independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of torture, incommunicado detention and death in custody, and for alleged perpetrators and accomplices of such acts, including those in command responsibility, be prosecuted and sentenced in proportion to the seriousness of the offences.

Elsewhere in its concluding observations, the UN Committee also echoed concerns raised by Amnesty International and others in relation to human rights violations committed in the Anglophone regions of the country, including by demanding an investigation into the deaths of at least 20 people killed in October in clashes between the security forces and protestors.

The Committee criticized the failure of Cameroon to provide information on the number of people still detained following protests in the regions, or whether investigations had been launched into the excessive use of force.

UN experts also noted their concerns that journalists such as RFI correspondent Ahmed Abba had been charged under counter-terrorism laws, and that some had been subjected to torture while in detention. The Committee also criticized the regular use of military courts in trials of civilians.

“The UN’s anti-torture experts have recognised that there is a major problem in Cameroon, and their warnings should be heeded. There should be no tolerance of human rights violations like torture, and we hope that the Cameroonian authorities and international community will respond to this report with the seriousness it deserves,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi.

Background

On 7-8 November, the Committee against Torture convened in Geneva, where among other things it completed a two-day review of Cameroon’s fifth periodic report on its implementation of the provisions of the Convention against Torture covering the period 2010-2015.

The Committee – which is comprised of 10 independent experts – engaged in a dialogue with the Cameroonian delegation which included representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Police, and the Permanent Mission of Cameroon to the United Nations Office at Geneva. Cameroon is among the 162 state parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Source: Amnesty.org

Cameroon’s government has ordered thousands of villagers to leave their homes in the Anglophone Southwest region as it deploys troops to root out armed separatists who have vowed to loosen President Paul Biya’s long grip on power.

The deployment marks an escalation of Biya’s year-long crackdown on peaceful protests in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions that has killed dozens of civilians and forced thousands to flee their homes in fear of reprisals.

Now, the government is using force to confront an insurgency that has sprung up alongside the civil unrest.

The separatists have killed at least eight soldiers and policemen over the past month as part of their campaign to break from the capital Yaounde in Francophone Cameroon and form a separate state called Ambazonia.

Authorities of the Manyu Division in the Southwest on Dec. 1 gave the order to evacuate 16 villages across the region. They warned that anyone deciding to stay “will be treated as accomplices or perpetrators of ongoing criminal occurrences.”

Motorbikes, a preferred mode of transport for separatist attackers, were ordered off the roads between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.

“People ran helter skelter when they saw the statement,” said Agbor Valery, a lawyer in Mamfe, which is near some of the evacuated villages. He said people were afraid of being rounded up and put in jail, as has happened since September in other areas of the English-speaking part of the country. “If you go to the villages, everyone has fled. Only the old people stayed. The streets are quiet. It is highly militarized. At night, you hear gunfire.”

Valery said he saw hundreds of troops and truck loads of military equipment arrive in Mamfe on Sunday that were then deployed to the surrounding villages.

Reuters was unable to independently verify his account but two military sources in the city of Bamenda in Northwest region confirmed that additional security forces have been deployed in the English-speaking regions.

Problems for Biya

The separatist movement compounds problems for 84-year-old Biya, who has ruled Cameroon since 1982 and plans to stand for another term next year. The economy has slowed sharply since 2014, while attacks in the Far North region by Islamist militant group Boko Haram have strained the military.

The fall last month of Zimbabwe’s leader Robert Mugabe after decades in power highlights the potential vulnerability of Africa’s long serving rulers amid a growing grassroots push for strict term limits for presidents.

Last week Biya vowed to flush out secessionists, whom he called “criminals.” Defense minister Joseph Beti Assomo said on Monday the new deployment would “prevent terrorists from harming others.”

Violence has spiraled since last year when government forces crushed peaceful protests by Anglophone teachers and lawyers protesting their perceived marginalization by the French-speaking majority.

The heavy-handed government response fuelled support for the separatist movement, which has existed on the fringes of Cameroonian politics for decades.

The response has also forced thousands out of their homes.

More than 5,000 have fled Anglophone Cameroon across the border to Nigeria since Oct. 1, the United Nations said. Nigeria is also English-speaking.

The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said it is making preparations for up to 40,000 refugees.

“Go home to where?”

Refugees’ stories have been slow to emerge because of government-imposed internet outages that have blocked messaging and social media sites like Facebook and Whatsapp. But they are beginning to shed light on what new refugees will likely face.

Abia David told Reuters that he left Bamenda in Northwest Cameroon on Oct. 27 amid widespread arrests in the town. He heard from friends that the police were coming to arrest him because he is a member of an opposition political group.

To escape Bamenda, and avoid its increasingly crowded jail, he cycled 16 kilometers into the countryside to the head of a bush road. From there he walked some 100 km (62 miles) alone north through a series of remote villages towards Nigeria.

“There was no time to carry food. I had one change of clothes but I lost that.”

He slept on strangers’ floors and arrived in Nigeria a week later, where he fell ill with malaria. He said NGOs on the border had estimated an extra 1,000-odd people had arrived since the weekend.

The UNHCR is offering provisions like mosquito nets and is helping refugees find housing. So far there is no central camp for refugees and they rely on the hospitality of Nigerians for room and board.

For David, it beats going home. Asked if he planned to return, he said: “Go home to where? Go home to be killed? To go to jail without trial? I can only go back once this is resolved.”

Source: VOA

Thousands of people are fleeing villages in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon less than a week after President Paul Biya declared war against Anglophone separatist groups. Fleeing villagers complain troops are engaging in rape, killings, and harassment, but the military says they are out to defend the population.

The number of people traveling along the Kumba Mamfe Road in the English-speaking southwest region of Cameroon has drastically dropped. It is along this road that goods from Nigeria are brought into Cameroon and vice versa.

Thirty-two-year-old merchant Takem Ethel said she and her peers suspended business trips between Cameroon and Nigeria after President Biya declared war on separatist groups.

“The numbers of checkpoints are just unbearable,” said Ethel. “Since the president announced that he was fighting against terrorists, it is as if he removed his hungry lions called the military from their den. Those who want to be killed can travel. I still have my life ahead, so I will not move.”

Ongoing violence

Violence in the towns of Mamfe and Eyumojock last week claimed the lives of at least six soldiers and a police officer.

Eyumojock is also the hometown of Julius Ayuk Tabe, the man who said he is the first president of Ambazonia, the state the separatists say they have created.

The government of Cameroon says many fighters were being trained there and across the border in Nigeria. Residents say most youths have escaped to the bushes to flee the heavy presence of the military.

Nyeke George Likiye, an independent analyst in southwestern Cameroon, said he has written to the national government to complain about the troops.

“They are doing their job in excess proportions,” said Likiye. “There are some arrests, some unreasonable arrests that are being done, people are being tortured, people are being beaten. This is not correct.”

Military denials

General Melingui Noma, one of Cameroon’s highest-ranking military officers, denied the southwest has been militarized or that soldiers are committing atrocities. The general said he is aware of alleged excesses but insisted the military is there to protect the population.

“We know that if we want to overcome this crisis, we have to make sure the population is with us,” he said. “How can you go and embarrass and harass people whom you want to take information from? If they cannot give us the correct information, if they cannot tell us the truth of what is happening in the field, you will see that the population will then turn and follow those secessionists.”

Schools have been closed in most of the English-speaking northwest and southwest since November of last year, when lawyers and teachers called for a strike to stop what they believed was the overbearing use of the French language. Violence erupted when separatists joined in and started asking for complete independence.

President Biya has said he is not open to any negotiation on the form of the state and that Cameroon is one country.

Source: VOA

Cameroon and Nigerian troops yesterday clashed at Otu, Cameroon’s last village on the border with Nigeria. Our sources in Otu reported that youthful, sex-starved and alcohol-inflamed Cameroonian forces crossed over into Nigeria and arrested some three Nigerians and brought them to the Cameroonian side where they are being charged with terrorism and murder of Cameroonian security forces.

Our source adds that when news of the arrest was reported to Nigerian border guards, they approached Cameroonian forces that were on patrol and demanded the immediate release of their fellow citizens. The incident has strained relations between Cameroon Defense forces in the region and the Nigerian border guards who view the crossing of the border by Cameroonian forces as a violation of international law and borders.

Meanwhile, Nigerians on the Otu border are threatening to join the fight as their fellow brothers have been arrested and taken to Cameroon. It should be recalled that there is no clear border between Cameroon and Nigeria in Otu and it is easy for any visitor to miss his way into the other country without knowing that they are in another country. The communities in Manyu Division of Cameroon speak the same languages with Nigerian communities along the border with the same accent, especially the Anyang and Ejagham communities that are on both sides of the border.

It should also be noted that over the last week, following a declaration by the government of Cameroon that it would be carrying out military operations along the border region, trade between the two countries has stalled, as Cameroonians living in those border villages have simply crossed over to Nigeria to avoid incurring the government’s wrath. Cameroon government operations have been prompted by a spate of attacks and killings of Cameroon Defense Forces by Ambazonian Defense Forces (ADF) who are fighting for the total liberation of Southern Cameroons.

It is worth noting that most Cameroonians living along the border region have dual nationality and most use the Nigerian Naira for trade purposes, as the Nigerian side of the border is more developed and it is a lot easier to trade with Nigeria due to fewer administrative bottlenecks. However, the Ekok- Mfum border that used to be as busy as a bee hive has become a ghost town. Though it is open and there is some calm, there are very few cars plying the road as Cameroon Defense forces are making it hard for businesspeople to ply their trade. The aggressive checks on the Cameroonian side have prompted many local business people to suspend their operations.

Similarly, in Kembong, a major town in the Eyumojock Sub-Division in Manyu Division, there were reports of clashes between the military and ADF forces and sympathizers. Our sources in Kembong report that two military officers were killed and many injured in a shootout that lasted hours. Cameroon Concord News Group is yet to independently verify these allegations, but there is mounting tension in the region as army soldiers, most of whom are Francophones, are harassing and humiliating the local population.

It should also be recalled that after a few days of operations in Manyu Division, pictures and vidoes containing government atrocities in the border region have begun emerging. According to a video aired by the Southern Cameroons Broadcasting Corporation, residents of Agborkem German, Nsanarakati, Ekang, Out, Mbakem and Nsanakang who have fled to Nigeria have been telling their tales of agony.

The villagers, many of whom are today in Nigeria as refugees, were rushed out of their homes following a press release by the Manyu SDO, Joseph Oum II, advising residents of certain villages to leave their villages and seek refuge in unknown destinations, failure of which they would be considered as terrorists and would incur the government’s wrath . The panic that followed the publication of the press release resulted in many residents of those villages to end up in Nigeria as refugees.

For those who did not leave, theirs has been the kingdom of terror, as many of them have been arrested and taken to unknown destinations. Our sources in Mamfe say many of those arrested have been brought to Mamfe and the jails are already overflowing. Our sources who spoke on condition of unanimity said that there were plans to transport some of the detainees to other cities in the South West Region, adding that many of the detainees were carrying scars of torture and starvation. They added that some of those arrested were already being branded as terrorists even when they were never caught in the act, as the fighting in Manyu Division is a guerrilla warfare and the fighters are using hit-and-run tactics to achieve their goals.

According to Mr. Abang Agbor of Nsanakang, a village along the cross river that serves as a boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria,  who left his village out of fear and who is currently in a refugee camp in Nigeria,  Cameroon defense forces had vandalized homes and made away with whatever money they could come by. He added that some of the alcohol-inflamed soldiers even undressed women and men and put them in the same location.

In Agborkem German, soldiers undressed women and men and asked them to make love in public and when the men effected erections; their penises were hit with batons.In the same video, women related harrowing stories of what they had lived over the last three days. Many have been sexually abused and their money confiscated by hungry and sex-starved soldiers.

While the government is telling the world that it is conducting its operations in line with international standards, the stories of those who have escaped the brutality of government troops is in sharp contrast with what the government is selling. Many people in the border regions and those who are seeking asylum in Nigeria are calling for an international investigation to clearly establish the facts. From every indication, this story will not be going away anytime soon. The anger and pain of the people of Manyu Division is palpable. It will take a long time for the government to give the people of Manyu a sense of belonging to a country called Cameroon. The brutality with which it has conducted its operations has left the local population with a lot of anger. Many are looking forward to the day Southern Cameroons will be independent. Their minds are made up. The government has a huge and challenging job of winning hearts and minds in this part of the country if it really wants to make Cameroon one and indivisible.

The Southern Cameroons crisis has already lasted for 13 months and from every indication, there are still many scenes. Addressing this issue will surely require international efforts, as many Southern Cameroonians are determined to walk away from Cameroon; a country they claim holds out no hope for them. With Nigerian and Cameroonian troops already clashing, there are chances that this conflict will soon be regionalized and even internationalized, especially with the flow of hordes of refugees into Nigeria.

By Kingley  Betek in Agborkem Waterfall in Nigeria

US President Donald Trump is perhaps the world’s most famous Twitter user, but the most popular post of 2017 was from… Barack Obama.

Three tweets by the former US leader made it onto Twitter’s Top 10 list of retweeted messages for this year but there were none from Trump despite his prolific use of the platform.

Trump was, however, the elected leader most tweeted about, Twitter said.

A tweet racking up the most “likes,” about 4.6 million as of Tuesday, came from Obama’s personal Twitter account on the day of a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The tweet showed a photo of a racially diverse group of children looking out a window at Obama as he smiled back, and bore a quote from Nelson Mandela.

The same Twitter post was the second most re-tweeted of the year, behind a tweet from a teenager trying to win a year’s supply of chicken nuggets from fast food chain Wendy’s.

(Source: AFP)