World Council of Churches interim head Rev. Ioan Sauca has joined global Christians and the United Nations in expressing horror at the brutal attack on schoolchildren in Cameron in which assailants slaughtered at least eight students with firearms and machetes.

 The children were killed at the Mother Francisca International Academy in Kumba, Cameroon, on Oct. 24.

Unidentified gunmen killed at least eight children in their classroom with guns and machetes, while 12 others were injured.

“The WCC joins with the churches and all people of good will in Cameroon and around the world in condemning this abhorrent act, in commiserating with the families and communities affected, and in praying for the healing of the wounded children,” said Sauca.

Cameroonian church leaders reacted to the recent bloodshed with outrage and demands for action.

Bishop Agapitus Nfon of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kumba lamented the loss of the young lives in the same statement.

‘BLOOD OF OUR CHILDREN’

“How much of the blood of our children need to be shed before something concrete and immediate is done? How long will the powers that be and are capable of restoring peace and tranquility in the distressed North West and South West Regions sit and wait?”

The attacked was strongly conemned at the UN in Geneva by a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani.

She said that the population continues to pay a heavy price in the ongoing crisis in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon and described the attack as “vile”.

“Serious human rights violations and abuses continue to be reported, involving both security and defense forces and armed separatist groups amidst the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Shandasani.

“The killing and maiming of children as well as attacks on educational facilities constitute serious violations of international law and the perpetrators must be held accountable with due regard for international human rights standards.”

She also said that the Cameroonian authorities have an obligation to protect access to education.

No group has claimed responsibility though local authorities have accused separatist fighters of targeting the school, CNN reported.

People have been raising awareness of the incident on social media under the hashtag #EndAnglophoneCrisis.

LINGUISTIC CRISIS

This was a reference to ongoing movements which advocate a separation between English-speaking Cameroon from the French-speaking part of the country. Separatists in Anglophone regions have been fighting with government forces and government-backed militias for several years.

Both sides faced accusations of violence against civilians, which began in 2016 after residents in the country’s Anglophone provinces, where 20 percent of Cameroon’s population live, protested the government led by French speakers.

The Anglophone conflict has internally displaced more than 670,000 people in affected areas, while 60,000 Cameroonians have fled escalating violence to neighboring Nigeria, according to the United Nations’ estimates in February.

The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, the Rev. Fonki Samuel Forba, on Oct. 25 prayed for justice for the victims and accountability for those responsible.

“May those behind these gruesome killings of God’s children be imprisoned by the judge of the human conscience even before they are found out, prosecuted and sentenced,” he said.

The WCC appealed for renewed efforts for a comprehensive and more inclusive dialogue to address the current security, humanitarian and human rights challenges in the affected regions.

“The WCC stands in solidarity with and offers its support and accompaniment to the churches of Cameroon as they seek to fulfil their essential ministry for justice, peace and human dignity and rights,” said the council.

Source: ECUMENICAL NEWS

More than 35 human rights organizations have signed an open letter calling for a ceasefire in Cameroon after a massacre at a school on Saturday. At least seven pupils were killed and more than a dozen wounded when gunmen stormed the school in Kumba in the southwest of the country.

Signatories to the letter include organizations from Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as Africa-based rights groups.

The letter, published by Global Campaign for Peace and Justice in Cameroon, stresses that Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict needs a political, rather than a military, solution.

“We are killing ourselves, we are killing our brothers and sisters, we are killing our kids,” said Christopher Fomunyoh, senior associate for Africa with the Washington-based National Democratic Institute, who is also involved with the group that published the open letter.

‘”We must sit around a table and discuss the grievances of the Anglophone minority that are genuine and legitimate. Unless we sit down and have this conversation, this crisis will endure.”

Call for international sanctions

Fomunyoh, who is from Cameroon, believes that the open letter can make a difference, given the global attention now focused on the country following the killing of the schoolchildren.

“The world is seized with the current crisis in Cameroon and I hope that this global appeal for peace and justice in Cameroon, and for the cessation of atrocities and hostilities, will resonate internationally as well as within the country,” he told DW.

Two English-speaking regions of Cameroon, the Southwest and Northwest provinces, have become the center of a fight for secession from the French-speaking majority areas. The conflict has claimed more than 3,000 lives and forced over 700,000 people to flee their homes since it flared in 2017.

The letter, published on Tuesday, calls on the United Nations to obtain a ceasefire.

It also asks diplomats and their countries to use all means possible, including sanctions, to encourage both Anglophone separatists and government forces to put down their weapons.

In the letter, the government of President Paul Biya is accused of urging children to return to school, but doing little to protect their safety.

Cameroon’s government has blamed secessionists for carrying out the attack on the Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in Kumba.

Separatists have often targeted schoolchildren for attending classes in spite of a school boycott promoted by the insurgents.

But rights groups have documented abuses against civilians carried out by both Anglophone fighters and government forces.

Fomunyoh calls for caution when it comes to assigning blame for the latest atrocity. “As long as the investigations have not been completed, it is really difficult to pinpoint how these latest atrocities in Kumba came about,” he said.

‘UN Security Council must act’

After the killing of the schoolchildren, United Nations’ secretary-general Antonio Guterres asked Cameroonian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and hold those responsible accountable.

He also extended his deepest condolences to the bereaved families

While appreciative of the UN secretary-general’s reaction, Fomunyoh stressed that there has been only one informal hearing at this year’s UN Security Council on the Cameroon crisis so far.

“That is not sufficient, because since then, hundreds of people have died and thousands have been displaced.”

Concrete action by the Security Council is “long overdue,” he said.

Source: Indianexpress

Residents in Kumba paid their respects to the seven lives lost, and those injured during the attack over the weekend.

In the latest tragedy to come from Cameroon’s historically violent clash between Anglo and Francophone citizens, seven children were murdered after attackers stormed a school with guns and machetes over the weekend.

In what has been deemed as the “darkest and saddest day,” by Bishop Agapitus Nfon of Kumba, armed attackers stormed the Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy, targeting students aged 9 to 12. The tragic event saw dozens of children injured, some critically.

The attack has shocked the nation, with both local and international agencies condemning the horrible offense. On Monday, Cameroonian President Paul Biya denounced the “horrific murder” of the school children, and alluded to the “appropriate measures” being taken in order to bring justice to the families of the victims. Prime Minister Dion Ngute Joseph shared his condolences via a tweet saying, “I bow before the memory of these innocent kids.”

The Cameroonian presidency and governing body have blamed Anglophone ‘separatists’ for the attack, though the group claims no part in the attack.

Human rights groups, however, have blamed both opposing parties, as the conflict has led to the death of over 3,000 deaths and resulted in more than 700,000 Cameroonians fleeing their homes and the country.

Source:Okayafrica

Turkey on Monday condemned a deadly attack on a private school in southwestern Cameroon.

“We are saddened by the news that many children lost their lives and were injured in an attack on a private school in the city of Kumba in Cameroon on 24 October 2020,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“We strongly condemn this heinous attack on the innocent children. We extend our sincere condolences to the friendly and brotherly people and Government of Cameroon and wish a speedy recovery to the injured children,” the statement added.

At least seven people died and 12 were injured on Saturday in an attack by gunmen with machetes in a classroom in southwestern Cameroon.

The Central African country has been marred by protests and violence since 2016, with residents in English-speaking regions saying they have been marginalized for decades by the central government and the French-speaking majority.

They are calling for independence or a federal state.

Violence in the Anglophone regions over the last three years has claimed an estimated 3,000 lives and caused the displacement of over 730,000 civilians, according to Human Rights Watch.

In June, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said for a second year running Cameroon topped the list as the most neglected crisis on the planet.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Following the killing of eight schoolchildren in the town of Kumba in the Anglophone region of Cameroon, Tity Agbahey, Amnesty International’s Central Africa Campaigner, said:

“The killing of eight schoolchildren inside their classroom is an atrocity that underscores the urgency of protecting ordinary people from the ongoing violence in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions. This horrific attack shows how badly the situation is deteriorating and we call on Cameroon’s authorities to immediately take all possible measures to protect the population.

“At least 12 other schoolchildren were injured in the attack. Over the past year there has been a surge in attacks in the Anglophone region, with many people killed, abducted or injured.

“The Cameroonian authorities must send out a strong and clear signal that such appalling crimes will not be tolerated, by immediately investigating these killings. The perpetrators must be identified, arrested, prosecuted and tried in a fair trial.

“We also call on authorities to guarantee at all times and in all places the free exercise of the right to education, which is under threat.”