Around a hundred protesters demonstrated in Geneva on Saturday against Cameroon President Paul Biya, who is staying in one of the Swiss city’s top hotels.

Demonstrators rallied close to the Intercontinental Hotel, where the 88-year-old leader has been staying since at least Sunday.

The hotel is regularly used by visiting foreign leaders and was where US President Joe Biden stayed before his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month. Biya is an occasional private visitor.

A bitter independence struggle by English-speaking rebels has been raging in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest (NOSO) regions since 2017.

Members of the anglophone minority in the country’s westernmost provinces have long complained of being marginalised by the French-speaking majority and Biya, in power for 38 years.

From 2017, their protests devolved into a bloody conflict.

Saturday’s demonstration in Geneva was initially authorised and then banned.

The police warned on Wednesday that as had happened two years ago during Biya’s last visit, when pro- and anti- demonstrators clashed, the protest could spill over and “cause inconvenience”.

The police urged local residents to close their windows and avoid moving around in the area.

Traffic restrictions were imposed around the Intercontinental and the Place des Nations square in front of the main United Nations building in the city.

Demonstrators were faced with a line of police officers in riot gear blocking the road from the square to the hotel.

They held up home-made signs saying, “Switzerland supports dictator Biya”, “Paul Biya: eternal dictator”, “We don’t want you in Switzerland anymore as long as NOSO is at war”, and “Biya get out”.

One man wore a t-shirt reading “Stop genocide on Cameroonians”.

Another man was pulled down by police after attempting to scale the gates of the UN.

Since Biya’s visit began, several small groups of opponents have been dispersed.

Three people were arrested at the start of the week, while a dozen others were detained on Friday.

In Cameroon, since the unrest erupted in 2017, the rebels have extended their violent attacks against police and soldiers to civilians.

UN and international aid groups say both army troops and anglophone rebels have committed abuses and crimes against civilians. In the past four years, more than 3,500 people have been killed and over 700,000 have fled their homes to escape the conflict.

Source: AFP

Cameroonian officials say anglophone rebels are taking a new tack in their fight to break away from the country’s French-speaking-majority. Officials say the separatists have started disguising themselves as military troops to infiltrate villages and launch attacks.

In a video widely circulated on social media platforms, including Facebook and WhatsApp, a group of 10 men armed with AK-94 assault rifles claim they are separatist fighters. The men, in civilian clothing, appear to brandish Cameroonian military uniforms, guns, ammunition and bulletproof vests they say they seized from Cameroon military. The men display a man’s head claiming it is that of a government soldier they killed and beheaded.

Cameroon’s military says the head displayed by the fighters as a trophy is that of one of its troops deployed to Babadjou, a French-speaking commercial town on the border with the English-speaking North-West region.

Awah Fonka, governor of Cameroon’s West region, where Babadjou is located, said more than 20 English-speaking separatists from Pinyin, a town in the North-West region, infiltrated the French-speaking West region Wednesday. He said the fighters attacked government troops and looted Babadjou shops.

Fonka said two government troops were killed by fighters disguised in Cameroonian military uniforms to fool the government troops.

Fonka visited Babadjou on Wednesday. He encouraged civilians who fled into the bush to return home.

Fonka said more government troops have been deployed to Babadjou and neighboring villages to find fighters hiding in the bush or among civilians.

The Cameroonian military warned both separatists and civilians against wearing military uniforms in a statement.

Separatists claim on social media they are in possession of several hundred Cameroonian military uniforms removed from the bodies of government troops they have killed. The fighters said some of the uniforms were seized from military camps they have attacked in the English-speaking western regions.

The military acknowledges that the fighters seized uniforms and military weapons from government troops but says the number of weapons and uniforms seized is low.

Peter Ngumulah, a 38-year-old college teacher, has been living in Babadjou for two years and says he fled fighting between government troops and separatists in the town of Bambili in the North-West region. Ngumulah says the government should increase the number of its troops in Babadjou.

“For heaven’s sake, how can just two soldiers be at the border [post between the West and North-West regions], knowing the sophisticated weapons the separatist fighters now possess?” he said. “Everything is going out of hand, and I pray the international community will step in and force both parties to sit at a roundtable for an unconditional dialogue.” Fonka said five troops were at the military control post at Babadjou when the fighters attacked. Three troops escaped, with one suffering injuries from the shooting. The military said he is responding to treatment in a hospital.

This is not the first time English-speaking separatists have infiltrated the French-speaking region. The fighters attacked the French-speaking village of Galim three times this year and killed at least seven government troops. The military said the rebels stole weapons and deployed additional forces to kill or arrest the fighters.

Cameroon’s separatists have been fighting since 2017 to create an independent English-speaking state in the majority French-speaking country’s western regions.

The conflict has cost more than 3,000 lives and forced 550,000 people to flee to French-speaking regions of Cameroon or into neighboring Nigeria, according to the United Nations

Source: VOA

Fabien Haiwe Adoum, son of the former Minister of Sports and Physical Education Adouma Garoua was reportedly murdered by unknown gunmen at his residence in Douala.

The 20-year-old’s body was discovered on Tuesday, July 13, 2021 in a state of decomposition.

Fabien Haiwe Adoum’s relatives said he disappeared since last week and was found following a very strong and unpleasant smell that rocked the entire neighborhood.

Alerted following this macabre discovery, the fire department removed the corpse to one of the Douala mortuaries and an investigation was opened to clarify the cause and circumstances of this death.

Fabien Haiwe Adoum recently completed his studies at the Saint Jerome Catholic University in Douala defending his thesis less than two weeks ago and obtained a degree in engineering in front of his dad Adouma Garoua.

By John Shufai

The reporter is not a staff with Cameroon Concord News Group

Two gendarmes in Cameroon were killed and then beheaded overnight in an attack by secessionists, an official says.

The bodies were found on Wednesday morning in Babadjou, a town which borders Cameroon’s North-West region – one of two areas where fighters are seeking to break away.

Gisèle Tsangue, the mayor of Babadjou, said it was an attack by separatists on a checkpoint and a third officer was missing.

The UN estimates that at least 3,500 people have been killed in the English-speaking regions of North-West and South-West Cameroon since the secessionist conflict began in late 2016.

Anglophone activists say the country’s French-speaking majority is marginalising the English-speaking minority.

 Source: BBC news

The Cameroon Diaspora had clearly indicated that it would be wherever Cameroon’s President, Paul Biya, would be hiding in Europe.

The Diaspora is used to interrupting the president’s long and expensive vacations in Europe and it was not going to fail this time around as the ailing and fragile Biya seeks medical asylum in the Swiss city of Geneva.

Members of the Cameroon Diaspora were on hand at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva to express their frustration with a president who has been incapable of posting any convincing political and economic results over the last four decades.

Mr. Biya, who was held up at his Unity Palace residence for two years because of the Coronavirus, decided this week to venture out to Europe to seek proper health care, is now dealing with a sticky and humiliating situation as protesters show up at his hotel to remind him of his failure and sorrows.

Mr. Biya left the country last week, leaving behind a nasty civil war that has already claimed more than 10,000 lives and a poorly managed economy that is clearly on the brink of a massive collapse.

For four decades, the Cameroonian dictator has not been able to build a state-of-the-art health facility that can take care of his failing health.

The country’s Diaspora has more protest planned for the week and the objective is to ensure that the unwanted guest gets kicked out of the hotel so that he can return to his country in total disgrace.

More Cameroonians in the Diaspora will be heading to Geneva to shore up efforts by their compatriots to kick out the incompetent and reckless president from a hotel that is costing taxpayers tons of money.

The Cameroon Concord News Group will be providing full coverage of the drama as it plays out in Geneva.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

A senior Southern Cameroon front line leader in South Africa has denounced the destabilizing role of the Cho Ayaba criminal group in Southern Cameroons, saying the so-called ADF fighters are targeting Ambazonia Restoration Forces and innocent Southern Cameroons civil servants instead of supporting them.

Speaking on Tuesday exclusively to Cameroon Concord News, Dr Patrick Ayuk urged Vice President Dabney Yerima of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government to call for an end to all ADF missions in Ground Zero and to push for a united command for all Restoration and Self Defense Groups.

“The ADF agents are not a pro-Independence fighting group, but rather a destabilizing factor helping the occupying French Cameroun army. To many in Ground Zero, Cho Ayaba’s small group of armed men seems to be inciting many other groups opposed to their existence in Ground Zero, which is a source of instability” Dr Patrick Ayuk said.

“Dr Cho Ayaba and his gang are not fulfilling Ambazonia Restoration duties of providing support to Amba fighters but are targeting Self Defense groups instead, especially the commanders loyal to the Interim Government” Dr Patrick Ayuk added.

Cameroon Concord News understands that Cho Ayaba wants to be leader at all cost with the pitiful argument that he has been advocating for the Southern Cameroon’s cause for 32 years. Longevity in the struggle is respected but solid personal achievements, integrity, leadership skills, and a clear vision are revered.

The people of Southern Cameroons want leaders who know where they are going. The Ambazonia people understand that 32 years in the struggle while making the same mistakes is akin to insanity. The nature of our emergency calls for much more than a village celebrity with a long history of divisiveness and fraud.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Scores of Cameroon government army soldiers have reportedly received messages via the WhatsApp text messaging service advising them to stop serving the Biya Beti Ewondo regime or get killed in action in Southern Cameroons.

Cameroon Intelligence Report sources in Yaoundé citing a secret correspondence to defense Minister Beti Assomo reported that French language messages from a source linked to the Southern Cameroons Interim Government had reached soldiers from several combat brigades in the Cameroon government army, and they were strongly believed to have been sent by the communications department of Vice President Dabney Yerima.

“Amba fighters can reach you and drop explosives at the area where your camps are located. Biya and his corrupt gang have abandoned you, so why should you die? You have your whole life ahead of you. Do not seek adventurism, or else death is your destiny,” the messages read.

At the heart of the crisis, which started in 2016, was a strike by teachers and lawyers, in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon. The professionals, supported by citizens of their areas, protested the unfair use of the French language and unjustified appointments of French speakers in their territories. Cameroon is passing for a bilingual country.

By 2017, the situation had spiralled out of control and developed into a fully-fledged separatist war. Both government forces and separatists are now bogged down in a conflict that observers say, can only be resolved through dialogue.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

The commander of the Southern Cameroons Self Defense Group in Mezam says Ambazonia Restoration Forces will celebrate the liberation of Southern Cameroons over the remains of French Cameroun soldiers.

“Our Big Rubbergun will not leave any La Republique army soldier alone and will celebrate the victory and liberation the Federal of Ambazonia over the remains of the Francophone occupying soldiers,” General No Pity said in an audio statement released in Bamenda on Monday addressing Cameroon government troops deployed to Southern Cameroons.

The remarks came after Cameroon government soldiers reportedly killed an innocent Southern Cameroonian in Bamenda last week following a surge in attacks against Cameroon government army positions in Southern Cameroons.

General No Pity also stressed that Ambazonia Restoration Forces are fairly capable of ending the presence of Francophone dominated Cameroon government occupation forces on Southern Cameroons soil.

The War in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia has already claimed at least 40 000 lives, almost all of them civilian children, men and women, murdered by Cameroun troops in a series of targeted killings, organized massacres, and killings by fire in over 400 villages burnt down to ashes across Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia. Over half a million people have been forcibly displaced as refugees living in various countries and especially in refugee camps in Nigeria. Over another half a million people have become IDPs hiding in forests, caves and hills due to forced displacement. Additionally, over 1.5 million people are facing a humanitarian disaster.

Republique du Cameroun uses not only arson and the destruction of food, livestock, and crops in the fields as weapons of war. It also uses rape. Rape of Ambazonian women and girls by Cameroun troops is systematic and widespread. This agonizing situation is compounded by the fact that a high percentage of French Cameroun troops are HIV positive and also has other STDs. When they rape they infect the women and girls. This appears to be part of the genocide agenda of Cameroun. Reports are now emerging of scores of school girls raped, impregnated and infected by La Republique du Cameroun’s troops. This poses a nightmare not only of the HIV and STD infections but also of rampant teenage pregnancies. Cameroun troops have burnt down health facilities and killed health workers in rural and semi-urban areas. Accessing health facilities or health practitioners is a huge challenge for rural and semi-urban folks.

By Fon Lawrence

Cameroon government army spokesman Captain Cyrille Atonfack Nguemo has resorted to new falsehoods and fabrications to avoid accountability about the recent killings in Southern Cameroons.

Southern Cameroons has been in the throes of a military conflict for more than four years now and the violence has continued to claim both civilian and military lives.

In Bamenda last week, a young man was killed by soldiers in a neighborhood known as “Below Foncha” and the killing revolted young people in the city, sending thousands of them to the streets.

The latest killing including that of a physics teacher has resuscitated old demons, with many young people calling on the military to pack and leave their land.

The military check-point where the young man was gunned down has been dismantled by angry youths who say they were sick and tired of the military brutality that the country’s arrogant government has unleashed on the Southern Cameroonian population.

The killings will surely not be ending anytime soon.

Yaoundé and its military spokesperson are now blaming Ambazonia Self Defense Groups for the killings in Bamenda and Kumba, an allegation rejected by the Southern Cameroons Interim Government.

The Biya Francophone regime has erected a stone wall against international human rights groups pushing for a fact finding mission to Southern Cameroons and the Cameroon government military is   censoring all internal media outlets and it is involved in a multi-stage cover-up trying to conceal evidence of its genocidal campaign in Southern Cameroons.

The War in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia has already claimed at least 40 000 lives, almost all of them civilian children, men and women, murdered by Cameroun troops in a series of targeted killings, organized massacres, and killings by fire in over 400 villages burnt down to ashes across Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia. Over half a million people have been forcibly displaced as refugees living in various countries and especially in refugee camps in Nigeria. Over another half a million people have become IDPs hiding in forests, caves and hills due to forced displacement. Additionally, over 1.5 million people are facing a humanitarian disaster.

Republique du Cameroun uses not only arson and the destruction of food, livestock, and crops in the fields as weapons of war. It also uses rape. Rape of Ambazonian women and girls by Cameroun troops is systematic and widespread. This agonizing situation is compounded by the fact that a high percentage of French Cameroun troops are HIV positive and also has other STDs. When they rape they infect the women and girls. This appears to be part of the genocide agenda of Cameroun. Reports are now emerging of scores of school girls raped, impregnated and infected by La Republique du Cameroun’s troops. This poses a nightmare not only of the HIV and STD infections but also of rampant teenage pregnancies. Cameroun troops have burnt down health facilities and killed health workers in rural and semi-urban areas. Accessing health facilities or health practitioners is a huge challenge for rural and semi-urban folks.

By Rita Akana