Calm is gradually returning to Bangui’s PK 5 neighbourhood following a military operation against armed groups in Central African Republic’s capital.

Heavy gunfire erupted in Bangui’s PK5 neighourhood as UN peacekeepers and domestic security forces moved in to dismantle militia bases.

“In Bangui, the whole city is calm, apart from PK 5, – inhabited mostly by muslims – where there are hotbeds of tension.You have self-defense groups raiding traders, oppose to the authority of the state.They have closed the police station in the 3rd district.They are hostile to the return of state authority in this area.This pushed the government with the support of the MINUSCA to bring order in this neighborhood. “

Some residents of PK 5 have condemned the joint military operation by the MINUSCA and Central African forces.

Eric Ngaba, Bangui reporter

“There was a peaceful march by inhabitants of PK 5, denouncing the operation of the government together with the support of MINUSCA to neutralize the self-defense groups. MINUSCA’s commander, General Bala Keita, however, says that the operation is still under consideration. “

The Central African government is determined to restore authority in the capital and it has not ruled out resumption of military operations in PK 5 especially as the leaders of the militias escaped arrest .

Written By AFP

How Gilbert Ngwani, 26, saved a captured classmate but died in battle hours after

A “battalion commander” of the Ambazonia fighters who acquitted a captured suspect, perished in gun battle with government defence and security forces less than 24 hours later. Gilbert Ngwani, 26, was found dead with bullet wounds, Thursday, April 7 on the streets of Belo, Boyo Division in the North West Region. He was laid to rest in his family compound on Friday, April 8.

The man Ngwani acquitted narrated the following testimony to me, which I recorded after thorough scrutiny to authenticate his story. From his outlook, he could be easily mistaken for someone of another ethnic origin with peculiar features, which was the claim of the Ambazonia fighters who abducted him. His identity is withheld to safeguard his security.

“I travelled to my village Belo last Thursday (March 29) for the funeral of a cousin who died in the village. On Wednesday, April 4, as the gun battles between government forces and the Amba Boys raged on and off, I was making a phone call at the Square when two young men on a motorbike pulled up near me. They were both either below 20 or just above 20. They were very young. I’m myself in my 20s, but they looked younger than me. They asked who I was speaking to on the phone and said I look like some of their enemies.

“It is true people often tell me I look like people from a certain part of Cameroon, not from any of the Anglophone regions. I told them I was a Bikom from Belo here and said I was speaking to relatives about the funeral of our cousin but they said I was lying. They said they believe I was making a call to security people to locate where they were. They asked me to come with them. They made me mount the bike, one riding; the other sitting behind me. I realized I was truly in trouble when I saw knives protruding from both pockets of the rider and the man behind with a short gun.

They took me without a blindfold to their “camp” which was just an open space. When we alighted off the bike and approached the other men I recognized one of them. Too frightened, I tried not to show familiarity, as well as he too did not acknowledge me. From the body language I could tell he was their commander. He gave instructions; the boys obeyed, gave him military-style salutes and called him military titles that showed respect.

“They questioned me further about my origins. I repeatedly told them I was from Belo. To my great relief, my childhood friend, Gilbert Ngwani, told his boys that he knows me and confirmed that I was a child of Belo. Gilbert was my classmate in GBHS Belo. After obtaining the A Level, he has been in the village doing odd jobs and riding motorbikes.

“The Boys also conducted a mystical test to prove my innocence. They waved a cutlass in front of me. I did not understand why but when I returned home and narrated my story, I was told it was meant to verify whether I was a danger to their cause. They told me, ‘We are out to clean the house and silence betrayers of our cause before engaging other phases of the struggle’. Thereafter, they took me on the bike again and dropped off at the Square and warned me that if I revealed their location to anyone, they would come for me again.

“The sad side of the story is that Gilbert was killed in battle on Wednesday, April 4. His body was found with bullet wounds. Knowing he was secured with the Odey Chi cult, many in Belo are guessing he might have defaulted on one of their rules. Some say he touched blood which is prohibited. Others say he might have mistakenly kept coins in his pocket. Life is nothing. That is someone I saw only hours before and especially, I feel sorry that my old friend that I hadn’t seen in a long time should die like that only hours after he saved my own life. Sometimes, I feel I might have been killed were he not there to testify that I was a child of Belo.

Gilbert Ngwani was buried in his father’s compound early on Friday, April 6. Village boys collected his corpse at night. His father wanted him to be buried without a coffin, fearful that soldiers could come and arrest those at the burial if they wasted time. But his friends took the courage and hastily made a coffin to bury Gilbert. ”

By Franklin Sone Bayen

On Tuesday, April 3, 2018, the Francophone dominated Cameroonian military attacked and burned several homes in Mungo Ndor, a small village located about 40km away from Nguti in Koupé-Manengouba. Ms. Egbe Maria Ndonge, well known as Mami Maria was burned to death in her house, while she was asleep.

Residents of the village confirmed that local churches have been burned. 6 civilians were shot and there are reports of several killings of civilians in the village. Intentionally killing civilians and destroying civilian property constitute war crimes and this should be thoroughly investigated.

The village has been besieged by the army, villagers are not allowed to move in or out, with hundreds hiding in the forest for safety.

The African Union and the UN are both maintaining a kind of deliberate silence on the Southern Cameroons crisis. Human rights groups have called on the Biya regime to allow journalists have access to these regions.

Culled from Today News Africa

Southern Cameroons media guru, Chris Anu who also moonlights as the Communication Secretary for the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia has finally made his position clear on the leadership situation deep within the Anglophone struggle, saying the clamour by Southern Cameroonians in both the Northern and Southern zones is “Not to kill its victims, but to go after those who have made us victims.”

Chris Anu implicitly denounced the so-called leader of an obscure organization known as the Ambazonia Defense Force, a militant group led by Cho Ayaba, which has been playing drums of killings and kidnappings and creating sectional unrest among Ambazonians. “Yes this is a revolution, but a revolution doesn’t go after its own especially those considered powerless’, Chris Anu wondered aloud in a posting on his face book page.

Chris Anu observed that “Why should all these politicians and the Atanga Njis of Cameroun walk free and the Ayabas go after powerless people? Chris stressed that his recent take on Ayaba Cho has nothing to do with the Interim Government but further pointed out that “If good people in this revolution do not stand up to Ayaba who is bent on sacrificing this struggle at the altar of power and fame, then Count Me Out”.

Mindful of the fact that the people of Southern Cameroons are ever ready to partner with the powerful Anglophone Diaspora groups in order to ensure the restoration of the state of Southern Cameroons, Chris Anu submitted that “We must collectively show Ayaba the door out of any form of leadership in this struggle.”

The Ambazonian Communication Secretary was reacting to news that Animbom Aaron Akiabom, the Social Welfare Delegate in Bamenda had been killed by a criminal gang led by Cho Ayaba. To be sure, Animbom Aaron Akiabom, the Social Welfare Delegate in Bamenda, a longtime Pastor and Deacon in the Baptist Church was abducted in Batibo early in March while returning from a funeral.

Cho Ayaba claimed the credit and paraded him in a social media video on March 10 as prove that his group actually had him in custody. Chris Anu has now revealed that he was since killed.

Our chief political editor, Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai had previously sounded a note of caution to Ambazonians to move away from the Cho Ayaba gang. Said Agbaw-Ebai ,“With the dust now settled, Southern Cameroonians can see clearly that there is no difference between Ayaba and La Republique forces. If the Lebialem Dragons had killed Prof Leke Tambo, that would have been the end of the revolution in Bangwa land.”

Soter Agbaw-Ebai noted that Southern Cameroons defense groups should and must respect the laws of war.

By Chi Prudence Asong in London

Thousands of people protested in Ghana’s capital Accra on Wednesday against the expansion of its defence cooperation with the United States, in a rare public display of opposition to the growing foreign military presence in West Africa.

Demonstrators blowing vuvuzelas and beating drums filled Accra’s business district, holding placards criticising a new deal with Washington that they say threatens Ghana’s sovereignty.

“As a right-thinking citizen, I am here to fight for my country. I am against selling our peace and security for $20 million,” said Gifty Yankson, a 49-year-old trader.

“They (the American military) become a curse everywhere they are, and I am not ready to mortgage my security,” Yankson said.

Police estimated the crowd size at about 3,500 protesters. While officers in riot gear were present, no violence was reported.

International powers including the United States and France are looking to extend their presence in the remote Sahel region in particular, where al Qaeda and Islamic State militants have gained a strong foothold in recent years.

But Washington is struggling to mend its image in Africa, which was damaged by reports President Donald Trump described African nations as “shithole countries” in a discussion on immigration. The White House later denied he used that language.

Under the deal approved by Ghana’s parliament last week, the United States will invest around $20 million in training and equipment for the Ghanaian military this year. Opposition lawmakers boycotted the parliamentary vote.

In return, the U.S. military will be allowed to deploy troops and import military equipment tax-free, use an airport runway that meets U.S. standards, and have free access to Ghana’s radio spectrum.

Ghana has had a long-standing military and trade ties with the United States, but many say the latest agreement was a step too far.

Responding to local press reports concerning the deal, the U.S. Embassy in Accra underscored in a statement last week that it had no plans to establish a military base in Ghana.

It said the existing 20-year-old cooperation agreement “does not cover the current range and volume of bilateral exercises and assistance.”

Four elite U.S. soldiers were killed in Niger alongside local troops in an Islamist ambush in October, sparking a fierce debate back home about covert U.S. actions in West Africa.

The United States has about 7,200 U.S. Defense Department personnel, including soldiers, stationed in Africa. Over half of those are stationed at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, with the remaining personnel scattered across 32 other smaller locations.

REUTERS

The government of Cameroon will accept dialogue as part of measures to end the Anglophone crisis, Interior Minister Paul Atanga Nji is reported to have said.

He however stresses that the sole condition to the dialogue being that it will be held with persons who are advancing the unity of Cameroon as a nation.

His view effectively means that the Central African country is not going to engage armed separatists whose activities continue to threaten members of the security forces and disrupt life in the Northwest and Southwest of the country – the Anglophone regions.

“We can still solve the problem without burning, looting, raping, destroying. The government is ready to dialogue with those who seek the oneness of Cameroon,” the Minister said in a visit to Buea, capital of the Southwest region on Tuesday.

Atanga is one of two Anglophones who were handed positions in the government following a cabinet reshuffle carried out by long-serving leader, Paul Biya.

What has become known as the Anglophone crisis, has riled the country’s two English-speaking regions. A previous cry against discrimination and marginalization from French-majority Cameroon has now taken a violent turn.

Secessionists under the so-called Ambazonia Republic continue to push for a breakaway from Cameroon – a move the government has flatly rejected. After a crackdown on protests in October last year during a planned symbolic independence declaration, the secessionists turned to arms.

They have since attacked and killed over twenty members of government forces – police, soldiers and gendarmes. They have also kidnapped two government officials. A soldier after burning his vehicle and a government official who appeared in a video begging to be rescued.

The call for dialogue has continually been made by several countries and groups but has yet to be seriously pursued. A number of the separatists leaders have been arrested and deported from Nigeria since January but they have yet to appear in court.

The humanitarian crisis arising from the situation has also led to Cameroonians fleeing the Anglophone regions in their thousands. The United Nations refugee agency has openly tasked parties to use dialogue to avoid further escalation of the crisis.

Source: Africa News

Separatist violence in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon along the border with Nigeria have completely stalled trade between the two countries. Buses no longer ply the Bamenda-Enugu road corridor as attacks and kidnappings continue.

About 70 men and women have assembled at Kandem, a village in southwestern Cameroon on the border with Nigeria to discuss what to do with their farm produce and how to get supplies from neighboring Nigeria. Five months ago, Kandem was a bustling market town along the $423-million African Development Bank-funded road linking Bamenda, Cameroon, with Enugu, Nigeria.

Pierre Atemengue, who came from central Cameroon, opened a plantation in Kandem. He says constant conflict between Cameroon government troops and armed separatists fighting for the independence of the English speaking from the French speaking regions of Cameroon have paralyzed business. He says 90 percent of the local farm produce has not been sold for the past five months.

He says he has asked all men to store cocoa in their community warehouse, while the women make sure that perishable farm produce like plantains, fresh maize and vegetables are harvested only when buyers come to their villages. He says women have been asked to work in groups to be able to meet supply deadlines whenever demand will be high.

Atemengue says goods imported from Nigeria are now difficult to come by, and when found are very expensive.

VOA mounted a commercial motorcycle to visit abandoned businesses in the village.

Rider Lionnel Mbung says the fighting has scared off the busloads of Nigerians that used to flood the village to buy farm produce and supply basic commodities, and that 80 percent of the youths in the village have fled the conflict.

Lionnel says he braved the crisis and stayed, but is now out of business after the government of Cameroon banned motorcycles because armed separatists were using the bikes to attack the military and kidnap government workers.

“Since the situation in Cameroon started, the bike business has dropped down, there is no way for us, things are not moving. They have passed orders that they do not want to see bikes, so we hide our bikes here, then we go to look for passengers because when we go there with our bikes, the police will catch [arrest] us.”

Access to most villages along the border with Nigeria is by motorcycle. The ban on their use has also helped to paralyze business.

Paul Atanga Nji, Cameroon minister of territorial administration who ordered the ban says the government will only reconsider its decision when peace returns and when an identification of the riders he has asked for is complete.

“The population has complained time and again because most of them kidnap, kill, destroy. So we are asking them to put order in this profession,” said Atanga Niji.

Cameroon, with a population of about 23 million, depends on Nigeria for most basic commodities, and Nigeria’s 160 million people count on Cameroon for rice, maize, tubers, plantain, cocoa and other farm produce.

The unrest in Cameroon began in November, when English-speaking teachers and lawyers in the Northwest and Southwest regions, frustrated with having to work in French, took to the streets calling for reforms and greater autonomy.

Over the past year, armed separatist groups have emerged demanding all-out independence for the two English-speaking regions. The government says at least 30 soldiers and police have been killed in recent clashes.

Culled from the VOA

A Chadian soldier and 20 militants from the Nigeria-based Takfiri group Boko Haram have been killed in a clash in the volatile Lake Chad region.

A Chadian military officer said Saturday that the incident took place on Friday on an islet named Tchoukou Hadje, adding that five soldiers were injured.

“Twenty Boko Haram members were killed and a large amount of weapons was recovered,” the officer said. “The Chadian army lost one member.”

Two Chadian soldiers including a captain were killed in an ambush in the area a month ago in the first attack by the Nigerian militant group on Chadian soil since May last year in which nine soldiers died.

Chad is a member of a multinational task force combating Boko Haram across its border with Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon. The force has been created with the aim of preventing a spillover of the militancy to those countries from Nigeria.

Boko Haram has been largely pushed out of its main strongholds in northern Nigeria, according to the country’s military and government. The group, however, is still active in its Sambisa Forest enclave in Borno and launches sporadic attacks on civilians and security forces from there.

More than 20,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in more than eight years of insurgency by Boko Haram in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger. The group pledged allegiance to the Takfiri Daesh group in 2015.

The United Nations has warned that areas affected by Boko Haram face a humanitarian crisis.

Source: Presstv

The Cameroonian army has released three hostages in the South West of the country. The three include a Tunisian and two Cameroonians ,employees of a road construction company abducted by English-speaking separatists on March 15.

The operation which led to the death of a Tunisian engineer,also led to four attackers neutralized.

Issa Tchiroma is Minister for Communication.

‘‘Our armed forces fought a battle during which they liberated those of our Tunisian compatriots and friends who were taken hostage by the terrorists. Unfortunately on the occasion of this event, a Tunisian technician lost his life, but we saved another Tunisian technician and two Cameroonians’‘.

The remains of the victim and the released hostages were flown to Yaoundé . The Cameroonian government commiserated with the Tunisian government during the difficult time.

‘‘The Minister of Defense, myself and the Secretary of State, accompanied the Tunisian officials who came to find out what happened to their compatriots. We accompany them and I therefore take this opportunity to say on behalf of the government, addressed condolences to the Tunisian government, the Tunisian people for this ordeal “, Tchiroma said.

This operation comes just few days after a previous one that led to the release of a senior Cameroonian official who was also kidnapped in the south-west of the country on Saturday.

Source: Africa News