Southern Cameroonians living in parts of Calabar and in other refugee camps in Cross River State have mocked their country’s authorities as well as its military forces for always parading the bodies of Ambazonian separatist forces killed.

Early in the week, there were reports in the international media about how the Cameroonian authorities have neutralised leaders of Ambazonia with their bodies displayed in public.

The Cameroonians said it was a shame that Paul Biya’s government has been unable to contain the might and prowess of the so-called Ambazonian fighters in the southwest part of Cameroon.

The Cameroon nationals, many of whom had fled the restive regions of that country into the safety of Nigeria, boast that their struggle has inflicted far more casualties on Biya’s forces.

Edward Mbe Areey, a refugee in Ogoja, bragged that there are hundreds of separatist forces fighting for Ambazonia’s sovereignty.

“If you know the number of our forces in the bush you will be stunned. We have many fighting forces and groups which have camps in the forests. How many times have Amba Boys paraded the bodies of Biya’s men brought down by our gallant men? But when they succeed to kill one of our leaders they will make a big show of it, inviting world media houses to share the pictures on social media,” he said.

According to him, their boys are effectively in charge of the ‘Ambazonian Territory’.

Another refugee, Tim Orue, who travels often from his part of Cameroon to Cross River State, said it is very risky to travel through to the Mfum border near Ikom, a cocoa town in central Cross River.

“When we meet the Amba boys on the way, they will collect what they call ‘supports’ and allow us to move on. But there are days they would declare total lockdown so that it becomes very dangerous to move in the troubled territory,” he narrated.

An estimated 500,000 Cameroonians, including refugees, live in parts of Cross Rivers State, with a vast majority of them without means of identification, and resident permits, but still moving about without hindrance.

By Alain Tabot-Tanyi

A soldier has been killed and another wounded in an ambush by jihadis in Cameroon’s Far North, military and local sources said Friday.

The attack happened on Thursday in the town of Ldaoussaf in a region troubled by jihadi insurgents, the two sources told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“An army patrol was ambushed,” a senior army officer said, adding that a soldier had been killed and another injured. “The assailants fled with weapons.”

A local authority representative who also asked to remain anonymous confirmed the toll.

The Far North is a tongue of land that lies between Nigeria to the west and Chad to the east.

Nigeria’s Boko Haram and its dissident branch, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), have in recent years carried out deadly attacks against security forces and civilians in northern Cameroon, as well as adjacent parts of Nigeria, Niger and Chad.

Boko Haram launched an insurgency in northeast Nigeria in 2009 before it spread through the region.

More than 36,000 people have been killed since, mainly in Nigeria, and 3 million people have fled their homes, the United Nations says.

Source: VOA