Headline News

11, October 2017

Oil and Gas: Tower prepares for 2018 drilling in Cameroon ⁰

Tower Resources plc (the “Company” or “Tower” (TRP.L, TRP LN)), the AIM-listed oil and gas company with a focus on Africa, is pleased to provide an update on the status of the Thali block in Cameroon.

Following a Technical Committee Meeting and Operating Committee Meeting between Tower, the Cameroon Ministry of Mines, Industry & Technological Development (“MINMIDT”) and the Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (“SNH”) held in Douala on 3 October 2017, Tower, MINMIDT and SNH have agreed on the following next steps in support of the PSC work commitments:

To conduct reprocessing of the existing 3D seismic data and conduct specific specialist studies such as attribute analysis, including AVO and pore pressure prediction, and coherency cubes on that data;
To continue with the geological and geophysical interpretations, using that reprocessed data, to refine and high-grade the prospect inventory on the Thali PSC block, to mature the drillable prospects;
To investigate rig availability with appropriate technical specifications; and
Based on this work, Tower aims to provide SNH with a prospect inventory and prioritisation during Q2 2018, and will agree with SNH a location for the first new well on the block.

In respect of acquisition of new seismic data on the block, Tower, will continue to search for a suitable seismic contractor; it being understood that the actual acquisition of new data may need to be deferred.

The budget for the planned work activities for 2017 and 2018 has been agreed. Tower, SNH and MINMIDT have agreed to meet in six months to evaluate the progress of the operations. Based on this progress the parties may contemplate an eventual extension of the initial period of the Exploration Phase to allow the fulfilment of all contractual obligations for the period.

Jeremy Asher, Chairman & CEO, commented:

“We are very pleased to have confirmed our next steps on the Thali license, including the reprocessing of existing 3D data, with a view to finalising priorities for drilling in 2018. We are also grateful to SNH and MINMIDT for their flexibility and support. By deferring the acquisition of new 3D data in favour of reprocessing existing 3D data we can save time and money in the near term, and move faster towards sourcing a rig in the currently depressed rig market. This not only accelerates our progress towards a well, but also makes the cost of our work programme over the coming year much more affordable, even taking into consideration the last portion of the signature bonus which is now falling due. With contingent Oil-In-Place estimated at 39 million barrels (Pmean, gross) already discovered on the block, we are keen to take advantage of the low cost of rigs in the current market and to begin drilling to reach a commercial scale for development of this high-quality near-field block as soon as possible.”

Source: Oil and Gas News

11, October 2017

17 dead, 180 missing as massive wildfires ravage parts of California ⁰

At least 17 people have been killed in California due to wildfires which have so far damaged over 2,000 residences and other buildings, authorities say.

Fires have been raging in multiple counties as of Tuesday, charring more than 115,000 acres of land and forcing nearly 20,000 residents to evacuate.

The biggest fires were reported from Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties, where flames were sweeping through the lush, picturesque landscape. Just in Sonoma and Napa, the Tubbs and Atlas fires have burned 52,000 acres of land.

The remains of fire damaged homes after an out of control wildfire moved through the area, October 9, 2017, in Glen Ellen, California. (Getty Images)

In Anaheim, fires schorched an estimated 6,000 acres and wreaked havoc on at least 24 homes and businesses.

At least 183 people have been unaccouted for since Sunday when the fires first broke out, according to one official in Sonoma County where at least 11 people died of fire-related injuries.

St. Joseph Health said nearly 170 patients have been treated for burns and smoke inhalation in Sonoma County.

High winds and dry conditions have exacerbated the situation, and according to Cal Fire, strong winds led to “extreme rates of spread and volatile burning conditions.”

A fuel truck sits in a stag in area as the Nuns Fire burns in the hills behind it on October 10, 2017, in Kenwood, California. (Photo by AFP)

Sonoma County Sgt. Spencer Crum said Tuesday, “The night before this, we had 60 mph winds, which is the reason why you have such devastation here.”

At least 3,000 residents were forced to leave the area in and around Anaheim, with officials saying that over 5,000 structures were being threatened by the flames.

“We always thought the alert system would give us time, but there was no notice, no warning,” said Maureen Grinnell, 77, who lived in the hills north of Napa. “I was watching a movie with my 19-year-old granddaughter and I smelled smoke, and I looked out the window to see flames approaching.”

Officials have been forced to evacuate even some hospitals due to flames which were engulfing certain areas. Also, residents living in surrounding counties, which were under threat, have also been ordered to flee their homes.

Source: Presstv

11, October 2017

Tchiroma makes a mockery of Southern Cameroonians again!! Says secession has no place in Cameroon ⁰

Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the so-called Cameroon government spokesman and Minister of Communication has said that secession will never see the light of day in Cameroon. The French Cameroun political elite known for his role in the 1984 April 6^th Coup against President Biya and for his anti Beti Ewondo statements also observed that the Biya Francophone government has satisfied the demands of Southern Cameroonians and added that each time a concession is made, “the seccessionists raise new conditions.”

Tchiroma was speaking during a visit to the headquarters of La Meteo, a pro Biya regime newspaper based in Yaounde on Tuesday the 10^th of October 2017. The controversial cabinet minister whose health has been failing of recent, acknowledged that Cameroon was indeed at crossroads but secession has no place in the country.

Exactly one year ago, the anglophone crisis sparked off in Southern Cameroons basically from demands made by anglophone lawyers and teachers which ultimately metamorphosized into demands for federalism and later secession by the peoples of Southern Cameroons. The Francophone dominated government in Yaounde has reported an uneasy calm lately within these regions after the riots of October 1.

By Rita Akana, CCN

10, October 2017

Police surround Catalan parliament ahead of declaration of independence ⁰

Police forces in the Spanish city of Barcelona have surrounded the regional parliament compound hours ahead of a potential declaration of independence of Catalonia.

The Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s regional police force, said on its Twitter page on Tuesday that security measures were imposed around the park where the parliament is located as there was the risk that opponents and supporters of Catalonia’s independence campaign could approach the area during a planned session in which regional leaders may declare Catalonia’s independence from Spain.

“For security reasons, Parc de la Ciutadella is closed to the public today,” said the short statement, without elaborating.

Several blue police vans were parked outside of the parliament building while metal barriers were set up at the entrance to the park.

A police spokesman said authorities hoped to “prevent any situation that would put pressure on parliamentary activity.”

“We are trying to avoid these situations, both on the part of pro-unity protesters as well as by groups of radical separatists,” he said.

The spokesman added that “a group of people forced their way into the park and threw objects against the parliament building” on Sunday, when hundreds of thousands of people staged a massive rally in Barcelona against the independence drive.

The photo shows a demonstration in Barcelona called by “Societat Civil Catalans” (Catalan Civil Society) to support the unity of Spain, October 8, 2017. (AFP photo)

Separatist organizations in Catalonia have called on supporters of independence to gather in front of the parliament “to support and defend the declaration of independence.”

The calls come as Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont could finally declare independence during the Tuesday parliamentary session, more than a week after a controversial referendum in which around 90 percent from a population of 2.3 million voters, less than half of those eligible to vote in Catalonia, endorsed the independence campaign. The vote came amid some unprecedented tensions on the streets as more than 900 people were injured in clashes with the police.

The Spanish government in Madrid has labeled the entire process of seeking referendum in Catalonia as illegal, including the referendum and the Tuesday vote in the regional parliament.

The political crisis, the most serious for Spain in nearly four decades, have hugely affected the economically-vibrant Catalonia, as major companies and banks have either moved their headquarters out of Barcelona or have announced plans to do so if regional leaders declare independence.

Source: Presstv

10, October 2017

President Biya’s health deteriorating ⁰

Cameroon Intelligence Report sources have revealed that 4 heads of state were scheduled to visit Yaoundé in the last eight months and have meetings with President Biya, yet these visits have been perpetually annulled.

Our sources further pointed out that the main reason for the cancellation of these visits was the state of Biya’s health that has been deteriorating. Among the heads of state who decided to cancel their visits to Cameroon were the Ivorian President Ouattara, President Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo Brazzaville, President Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea and the Head of State of Niger Republic.

Etoudi has also reportedly stopped a lobbying process for a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Cameroon. However a number of world leaders have visited Cameroon, mainly African presidents including the head of the Republic of Chad, Idris Deby and the Senegalese President.

Biya also met the CEO of the African Development Bank as well as the Italian Head of State recently in Yaoundé. French Cameroon political commentators have said that Biya’s continued stay in power despite his ailing health is proof that Paris and the Francophone dominated military leadership is working on finding an alternative which would appease all the political parties including Southern Cameroonians.

Biya assumed the presidency on November 6th 1982 and has been re-elected uncountable times following the staging of numerous counterfeit presidential elections and his supporters are preparing for another mandate in the 2018 elections.

Biya has made constitutional amendments that grant him the right to run for successive presidential terms, after the previous text of the Constitution limited the number of covenants to only two.

Biya was last seen at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. He remained in a five star Intercontinental Hotel in Swiss from where he is receiving treatment for prostate cancer. We gathered he has lost his ability to speak. The state of his health has prompted some key figures within his ruling CPDM party to demand he step down but these calls have been unanswered.

Source: Cameroon Intelligence Report

10, October 2017

The great SOBA:UK alumni association for rock star ex-students ⁰

With excitement building amongst Sobans in the UK around the 2017 Annual Residential Convention slated from the 10th to the 12th of November in Rugby, it seems the leadership team headed by Ayuk Akoh-Arrey and his executive and event management teams, have ticked all the boxes on the to do list, and is satisfied with the preparations.

The Association wants to continue to deliver on its theme of “Building A Stronger Community”. Festivities, which include the SOBA:UK’s AGM and ceremonies, will kick off formally at 11am on the 11th of November at Dunchurch Park Hotel and Conference Centre, Rugby Road, Dunchurch.

Pre-SOBA:UK events across the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland are in full swing. These include media networking sessions, Sobans interactions with sponsors and local communities and dry runs of programs for the big day. During their address on Saturday the 11th of November, the SOBA:UK leadership team will highlight what has been achieved by so far since their recent election in the 2017 executive elections. The AGM involves members discussing SOBA:UK priorities and programmes for the year ahead, amongst many topics this year, extensions to the existing welfare structure to further support Sobans in various challenging situations in the UK, as well as new new proposals to partner with SOBA America in 2018 in giving back to the alma mater and encouraging academic and extra-curricular achievement in Sasse College.

Cameroon Concord News sought to discover how SOBA:UK has come to occupy the number one spot of Cameroon alumni associations in the UK. “It has taken a simple recipe – sustained effort and commitment by many Sobans. Ever since Ayuk Akoh-Arrey became president in 2014, with his background in financial services, he has sought to make the association financially strong. ” said Eko Ngwashi of the events management team.

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In 2014 SOBA:UK set a vision

A number of volunteers organized themselves into six strategic teams to drive growth. “We were poised to set a long term plan to compete with the likes of the Eton college alumni at this meeting” says Secretary General John Bawak. “We believed the UK association deserved to boast of a big bank account and such a vibrant community that Sobans would feel comfortable talking about SOBA:UK at their places of work. That is the moment the SOBA:UK brand became crucial”.

SOBA:UK at a long term vision meeting in 2014 to identify a model for their community of volunteers

Photographer: Alex Quest

What’s more, the potential for various members to take part in this growth by working in projects to drive the vision. This is how SOBA:UK gets people to participate in projects and activities that create the dynamic association that it is. The Charity and Welfare team establishes and reviews systems for Sobans in need. The events management team undertakes strategic leadership in planning and executing all their events. A Liasons team is responsible for liasing with the executive team and Sobans and also with the wider Cameroonian community. A business and systems team manages offline and online coordination of the association, meanwhile a publicity and marketing team carries out the marketing. Newly elected Vice Secretary General Usamatu Babangida said “It is an easy association to join, it only requires to pay membership and there is so much work to keep you busy”.

The Welfare Team on road trip to Scotland in 2017 in support of a bereaved Soban family in Nov 2015

Cameroon Concord News understands that a welfare scheme has paid over £16,000 to bereaved Sobans since 2006 when the first bereavement was issued. “Our bereavement scheme works not just because we pay out but because Sobans show up and see the families of those who are bereaved” says Financial Secretary, Batey Tako. SOBA:UK members have been known to make long road trips to be with the families of bereaved Sobans at their time of need. This extra-ordinary commitment towards each other is reciprocated in SOBA:UK events where hundreds of guests turn out in support of the association. The Welfare Team has also made over £17,500 in payouts to projects in Sasse over the last 10 years.

The Events management team boasts of three of the association’s most successful conventions in 2014, 2015 and 2016, which have seen sponsors of the likes of Lycamobile, Turkish Airways, SellamQuick.com, some other big businesses and media partners in Vox Africa, which won Channel of the Year at the African Pride Awards.

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The SOBA:UK Residential Convention is the highlight of the summerfor many Cameroonians in the UK. Cameroon Concord News gathered that due to levels of demand, preparations include tight security for the guests, the media and members of the public, both inside and outside Dunchurch Park Hotel. SOBA:UK’s Event Management team for 2017 has also authorized a “Book-Early And Get Up to £60 off” discount [www.sobaintheuk.org] to purchase a table for 10 people, with additional discounts for registered members.

Cameroon Concord News understands that the AGM is the forum where Sobans with any grievances or suggestions can attend and put their issues so that continuous structural improvements can be achieved within SOBA:UK. The president was quoted as saying that members who have genuine grievances are encouraged to attend the official AGM in 11 November, and put those to the General Assembly for deliberation. SOBA:UK we understand is financially very strong providing a good base to support its membership, which is at the heart of the Association.

Many other Sobans all over UK are also hard at work to ensure that people participate in activities and for the event to be a success as it was in 2016. As such, they have provided even greater public access to all SOBA proceedings. Sobans in other parts of the world and Cameroon who prefer to follow the event in the comfort of their homes can tune in towww.cameroonconcordnews.com for updates. The SOBA:UK convention will also be broadcast live on www.cameroonintelligencereport.com. The ceremony will also be covered by accredited journalists from various local and international media houses.

“We are confident that this greater access will allow more Sobans to hear directly from President Ayuk Akoh-Arrey about their association and about issues that concern them” noted Alfred Bate Bawak, a senior SOBA in the Midlands.

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By Chi Prudence Asong with files from Soter Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Concord News Group

10, October 2017

US Army to ‘increase’ missions after losses in Niger, top general says ⁰

The United States Army’s top officer says it is likely to “increase” its train, advise and assist (TAA) missions after the death of four soldiers in Niger by developing a new unit, he describes as “similar to special forces,” that are “not special Forces.”

General Mark Milley made the comments at the Association of the army’s annual meeting in Washington on Monday, not long after four special operations commandos were ambushed to death by militants in the Western African country of Niger.

The army’s chief of staff did not mention who was responsible for the attack although he asserted that the US military does know the group.

“We are training, advising and assisting indigenous armies all over the world,” Milley stated. “And I anticipate and expect that’ll increase, not decrease, in years to come.”

Two other Green Berets were injured on the October 4 ambush near the Nigerien capital Niamey by militants said to be linked with the Daesh Takfiri group in Iraq and Syria.

“It is a dangerous mission, TAA missions around the world. It depends on where you are at,” Milley said, announcing that a new unit is being developed for such missions.

General Mark Milley, the chief of staff of the US Army, speaks at the National Press Club, July 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

It will be made up of six “Security Force Assistance Brigades,” which will include 500 non-commissioned and senior officers with “Ranger-like standards.”

“They will look and act, in many ways, and be trained similar to Special Forces, but they are not Special Forces,” Milley asserted.

US Special Forces soldiers of the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) assault a simulated enemy bunker during pre-deployment training in Nevada, March 2006. (Photo via US Army)

The US Africa Command “is reviewing very closely the security procedures that they are using for these teams that are there in Africa,” he added.

The US military leaders are expanding Washington’s military presence, arguing that they need to be able to act more quickly against purported enemies amid vows by President Donald Trump to defeat the Daesh terrorists.

The US and some of its regional allies are themselves implicated in support for the Takfiri terrorists.

Culled from Presstv

9, October 2017

2 UN peacekeepers killed, 12 injured in DR Congo ⁰

Ugandan rebels have attacked two military bases in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), killing two United Nations peacekeepers and injuring a dozen others.

The UN mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, said the casualties occurred during two simultaneous attacks early on Monday, when soldiers were battling the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group along the main road leading from North Kivu province’s Beni territory to the Uganda border.

The UN did not specify the nationality of the dead soldiers or the injured.

“This region has seen more than enough violence already,” the mission chief, Maman Sidikou, said in a statement, adding that MONUSCO would “strongly” respond to threats by armed groups.

A Congolese army spokesman in the region, Mak Hazukay, also confirmed the report and later said the bases housed Tanzanian peacekeepers who formed part of an intervention brigade with a mandate to conduct offensive operations against the rebel group.

The assault came a day after the ADF militants killed at least 30 civilians by slitting their throats and took another 19 hostages near the city of Beni.

The recent fighting is a fresh outbreak of violence for a region plagued by ethnic tensions and massacres that killed more than 800 people between 2014 and 2016.

The Allied Democratic Forces-National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU) rebel group, which was founded in Uganda in 1995 and later moved to Congo, is believed to have roughly 400 members and has been accused of committing serious human rights violations, including recruiting child soldiers and rape.

ADF-NALU and dozens of other armed groups have been active in eastern Congo since the 1996-2003 Congo wars.

The Congolese army, joined by UN troops, is on the offensive against the rebel group which is blamed for more than two decades of violence that has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

Source: Presstv

9, October 2017

Francophone army denies shooting at Southern Cameroons protesters from attack helicopters ⁰

Witnesses and rights groups said troops and attack helicopters opened fire on protesters at the height of separatist rallies in English-speaking areas of Cameroon over the weekend, killing and wounding people. The army dismissed the reports from sources in five towns as “completely false” and said helicopters had only been used for surveillance.

Any use of air attacks would mark a major escalation in a government crackdown on separatist protests that have been rumbling in Anglophone districts of the central African oil producer for almost a year. Reports that the helicopters fired on protesters is completely false. The helicopters were only conducting surveillance.

Thousands took to the streets in towns across the Northwest and Southwest regions on Sunday, Oct. 1, calling for independence from the country’s French-speaking majority. Rights groups said they started to collect reports on ensuing violence in the areas bordering Nigeria as the week progressed.

Eight people in the towns of Bamenda, Buea, Ndu, Tombel and Kumbo told Reuters that police and soldiers moved in to stop the protests and in some areas, low-flying attack helicopters fired tear gas and live rounds on the crowds.

Etienne Ndage, a 31-year-old journalist for Savannah Frontier Radio in the northwest tea-plantation town of Ndu said he saw helicopters firing at around 1 pm local time, killing two protesters as a 1,000-strong march gained momentum.

“They were firing like in a war film,” he told Reuters. Hilary Manjong, private secretary to a local Member of Parliament in Ndu, said witnesses had shared similar accounts with him.

Army spokesman Didier Badjeck dismissed the accounts. “Reports that the helicopters fired on protesters is completely false. The helicopters were only conducting surveillance,” he said. The government earlier this week said about 10 people had died on Sunday including five in a prison fire that may not have been linked to the protests.

The governor of Southwest region, Bernard Okalia Bilai, told the Cameroon Tribune newspaper in an article published on Tuesday that protesters had ambushed soldiers in Kumba, forcing them to open fire in self defense. Amnesty International told Reuters on Thursday that more than 20 people were killed between Oct. 1 and 2.

“THE INNOCENT ONES”

Demonstrations began nearly a year ago when Anglophone lawyers and teachers protested against having to work in French, saying it showed the wider marginalization of the English-speaking minority. The protests gained support and have increasingly called for Cameroon’s five million English speakers to get their own country.

The rallies have also have become a lightning rod for opposition to President Paul Biya’s 35-year rule. Campaigners called more protests on Sunday, the anniversary of Anglophone Cameroon’s independence from Britain. In the southwest town of Tombel, a resident who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters that a military helicopter came so low over the town center that the wind gusts threw a man off his motorbike.

First the helicopter fired teargas to disperse the crowd, then it opened fire, the resident said. “Normally they fire rubber bullets, but I could tell from the sound that these were real,” they added. Outside Buea, police on the ground and a helicopter opened fire on protesters who had run into the bush to bypass a military checkpoint, said Louis Anuchem, a 35-year-old taxi driver from Buea.

“The helicopter came close to the ground,” he added. “We heard the gunshots and the bullets coming through the trees,” he told Reuters. After the demonstrations police went door-to-door in some towns, rounding up young men and women, residents said.

“Soldiers came to our neighborhood and broke into homes and carried boys away,” said Lanya Joel, a 21-year-old Kumba resident. “I am scared and will be away until it’s all over.” Rights group the Southern Cameroon’s Public Affairs Committee said in a report that a 12 year-old girl was shot by security forces from a helicopter in the town of Kumbo.

The Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference of Anglophone Christian Bishops said in a statement this week that is was disturbed by reports that “some of our Christians were … arrested, some maimed, and some were simply shot to death, some from helicopters.” Helene Mekem said her son was shot dead by security forces outside his home in Kumba on Sunday, even though he was not involved in the protests. “They are killing the innocent ones,” she told Reuters.

Reuters

9, October 2017

Militants kill 30 travelers in northeastern Congo ⁰

Militants ambushed a group of about 30 civilians in northeastern Congo and killed many of them before fighting a fierce battle with the army, politicians said on Sunday.

The attack took place near the city of Beni and, if the deaths are confirmed, would be the first mass-killing this year in that area. It has seen relative peace since more than 800 people were killed in dozens of massacres between 2014 and 2016.

The spate of attacks raised serious questions about the state’s ability to impose order over a region full of ethnic tensions and plagued by pockets of lawlessness where armed groups prey on populations and exploit rich mineral reserves.

In the latest attack, on Saturday, assailants armed with machetes and guns ambushed travelers on the main road linking Beni territory in North Kivu province to neighboring Uganda, Boris Maelezo, a member of parliament from the area, told Reuters.

He said about 30 civilians were riding on motorbikes, with several people on each vehicle, and that most of them could have been killed.

Albert Baliesima Kadukima, another lawmaker from the area, said two women freed by the militants had told local authorities the assailants had slit the throats of more than a dozen people.

Mak Hazukay, a local army spokesman, said Congolese forces were battling the militants and attempting to dislodge them from a section of the road that was several kilometers long.

The two lawmakers and the army spokesman said the militants belonged to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan extremist group active near the border between Congo and Uganda.

Eastern Congo is a tinderbox of ethnic tensions and has been racked by conflict for more than two decades. It is the world’s biggest source of coltan, used in mobile phones and other electronic products.

Various armed groups have committed atrocities around Beni since late 2014 to settle scores and undermine rivals, with attacks sometimes sectarian in nature.

(Source: Reuters)