Cameroonian police used force to disperse Muslims praying at mosques at the start of the holy month of Ramadan Friday for violating government orders not to gather because of the coronavirus.  Cameroon has confirmed at least 1,300 COVID-19 infections and 43 deaths, the hardest-hit country in central Africa.

A police statement said force to disperse Muslims from at least 13 Mosques in the country’s West, Center and Far North regions where they insisted on saying prayers during the Ramadan fasting period that began Friday in spite of a government ban because of COVID-19.

Awah Fonka, governor of the Western region of Cameroon says he asked the police to force Muslims who did not respect the order and were praying in mosques in the towns of Foumban, Foumbot and Bafoussam out. He spoke to VOA from Bafoussam via a messaging app.

Fonka says he will not spare anyone who refuses to respect measures taken by the government of Cameroon to protect its citizens from the deadly coronavirus and that he cannot imagine how people can be joking about  a virus that is claiming lives all over the world and sparing no one who refuses to protect him- or herself.  

The police also said that some Muslims in Cameroon were sending away outsiders from towns hit hardest by the outbreak, and that they had received 175 complaints from Cameroonians who were either stigmatized or chased from villages because they had come from towns where COVID-19 infections had been reported. 

Thirty-four-year old fruit and vegetable seller Gaston Asabe is one of them. He says when he arrived in his northern village of Koza Thursday night to buy onions and supplies to take back to Yaounde, villagers and relatives chased him, saying he was a coronavirus carrier, since he was coming from Yaounde, which has Cameroon’s highest COVID-19 infection rate. He spoke via a messaging app from the northern town of Maroua, where he took refuge for safety reasons.

He says Koza villagers went to their chief and imam and told them he had come from Yaounde with the coronavirus and they were afraid he would contaminate them.  The villagers wanted the chief and imam to allow young men to throw him out of Koza. He says he struggled in vain to explain that he was not infected, but no one would listen to him. 

Imam Dairou Abdoulahi of the Fifth Mosque in Koza says Asabe was attacked after the government repeated that mosques should remain closed during Ramadan. Abdoulahi says Muslims in the village argued that they have not had any cases of COVID-19 and will remain safe attending Ramadan prayers in their mosque if they stop visitors from towns where the virus has been confirmed from coming to their village. Abdoulahi said by phone from Koza that he asked the Muslims to stay home and be safe.

He says Islam and their prophet Mohammed teaches through the Quran that lives should be protected through good health and hygiene and, as such, all Muslims should stay at home as a sign of obedience to the Quran’s teachings. He says no one should blame the government for asking for mosques’ closure because that will save lives. 

Manaouda Malachie, Cameroon minister of health, speaking to VOA through a messaging app, called on the population to respect government measures to stop COVID-19 no matter their religious or traditional beliefs. 

He says he is insisting that people should be responsible because COVID-19 is a matter of life or death. He says believers should know that by staying safe and praying at home, they are not only protecting themselves, but other faithful from being contaminated by the coronavirus. Manaouda says there will be time to celebrate when the virus is conquered. 

Cameroon’s first case of COVID-19 was confirmed March 5. The government, among other measures, asked Christians and Muslims to pray at home to avoid its spread. The health ministry says that the cases will continue to rise if Cameroonians fail to take COVID-19 seriously.

Source: VOA  

The UN’s human rights chief has been weighing in on recent killings committed by State authorities, or by rogue members of State military forces, emphasizing that all Governments must strictly abide by international law and hold those who serve, accountable for any violations.

In a statement released on Wednesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, welcomed the acknowledgement by the Government of Cameroon – following a national investigation – that members of its military were involved in the deaths of at least 13 people in a village in the country’s northwest region, as well as the announcement of new legal proceedings against them.

Allegations began to circulate in February that three Cameroonian soldiers were involved in the killing of members of an armed separatist group, along with others, in the village of Ngarbuh, in the country’s northwest. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced there in recent years by clashes between national forces and separatists.

OHCHR was among a range of voices calling on the Government to ensure that its security forces conduct themselves in strict accordance with international law during all operations.

A commission established to investigate the killings found that two soldiers and a gendarme, aided by 10 members of a vigilante committee, stormed Ngarbuh and shot dead five members of the separatist group.

When the servicemen discovered that women and children had been killed as a result of the operation, they panicked and burned down houses to try to cover up their actions.

“I welcome the Government’s decision to set up a national commission of inquiry…to look into these killings,” said the OHCHR chief. “It is now essential that all those responsible for the deaths of the people in the village of Ngarbuh are held fully to account in a fair and transparent judicial process.”

Cameroonian authorities have said that legal proceedings are being initiated against the three servicemen and that they are continuing to search for the vigilante members.

Source: News.UN.Org

The cash-strapped French Cameroun government in Yaoundé has suspended the salaries of 8,766 civil servants. The decision was made public today by the Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform.

The Francophone minister pointed out in his statement written in the French language that the civil servants-a majority of whom are Southern Cameroonians fleeing the crisis in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia are suspended from pay as part of a policy he painted as “Physical Counting of State Personnel” operation, launched in April 2018 by the Ministry of Finance.

In a previous French Cameroun government communiqué, the Minister of Public Service stated that this involves 3721 state employees under the Labour Code and 5045 civil servants. They were accused of “irregular absence”, “resignation” or “death” and asked to contact with immediate effect the ministry of public service.

Biya regime agents say in two years, the physical counting operation of state employees launched in April 2018 has already identified and redacted some 10,000 fictitious civil servants. It led to savings of CFAF 30 billion in 2019, a figure disputed by opposition parties.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

According to the Minister of Public Health, of the 1134 cases that tested positive for coronavirus disease, 668 are now known to be cured.

The recommendations of the Scientific Committee of Emergencies in the Ministry of Public Health recommends the use of the combination (hydroxy) Chloroquine/Azythromycin for free therapeutic care of patients with Corvid-19 in Cameroon.

There are currently 43 deaths related to Corvid-19 in the Francophone dominated nation.  Several patients are using local herbs for their Corvid-19 treatment.

By Rita Akana

Labour Day and National Unity Day, scheduled for 1 and 20 May respectively, have been cancelled in French Cameroun, the presidency announced Wednesday evening. 

The ruling CPDM gang is using the Coronavirus pandemic as a reason for cancelling the 2020 editions of Labour Day and the so-called National Unity Day that has seen French Cameroun marginalized Southern Cameroonians for 58 years.

“Because of the need to respect the measures of social distancing prescribed by the government of the Republic, President Paul Biya has decided to cancel the public celebrations of the 2020 Labor Day and National Day,” wrote Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, Minister-Secretary General at the French Cameroun Presidency of the Republic.

These explanations do not seem to convince all French speaking Cameroonians, some of whom continue to spread the rumour of the death of their head of state despite his recent appearance at an audience with the French ambassador to Cameroon.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Southern Cameroonian refugees currently on asylum in Benue have appealed to the Nigerian government to use her position to intervene for a cease fire in the prolonged crisis that has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands to take refuge in neighbouring countries.

The refugees equally called on the International Criminal Court in the Hague to arrest the Cameroonian President, Mr. Paul Biya over alleged crimes and genocide against Ambazonians.

Leader of the refugees’ community in Nigeria, Chief Agba Christopher Ipa, made the call during an interview with newsmen, Sunday at the Ikyogen refugees camp in Kwande local government area of Benue state.

He said when they had crisis in their country, the President of Cameroon declared war on civilians, forcing them to run down to Nigeria with some of them finding themselves in Benue state.

“We are crying and thanking the Nigerian government for the concern they have for us the Cameroonian refugees.

“We want the Nigerian government to help us see how they can solve our problem so that there will be a ceasefire in our country for us to go back,” Chief Agba Christopher pleaded.

On his part, the chairman of Kwande local government area, hosting the refugees, Mr. Tertsua Yarkwan said the Ambazonian crisis has gone beyond the Cameroonian situation and called on the African Union to mediate in the crisis.

The council chairman explained that the Cameroonian refugees would be given equal status to integrate them into the Nigerian society if the crisis in their country persists as the local government was financially constrained in feeding and providing basic needs for the refugees.

He implored the African Union to do something about the humanitarian situation in Cameroon.

“I implore not only the Nigerian government but also the African Union to do something. You know, we are in the ECOWAS area in West Africa. The Cameroonians are coming from Central Africa. So that goes beyond ECOWAS to intervene.

“I plead with the leadership of African Union to be more proactive on this issue and not to see it as a local Cameroonian problem.

“Nigeria is already having the effect of this crisis. Besides being in Kwande, the refugees are in Cross River, they are also in Taraba state.”

Source: Blueprint, Nigeria

Cameroon has admitted that three members of its armed forces were involved in the February killing of 13 civilians, including 10 children, in the country’s anglophone area.

The government had previously denied any role in the killings in the region, where English-speaking separatists have been fighting government forces since 2017.

The February 14 massacre in the village of Ntumbo in Cameroon’s Northwest Region left 23 people dead, including 15 children, according to the United Nations, which called it “a shocking episode in the ongoing crisis that has afflicted the country’s North-West and South-West regions for the past three years”.

It said nine of the children were under age five and that two of the victims were pregnant women.

In a statement read over state radio on Tuesday, Cameroonian President Paul Biya’s office said three soldiers and a vigilante group stormed a separatist base, killing five people, before “discovering that three women and 10 children were killed” in the firefight.

“Overcome with panic, the three soldiers helped by some members of the self-defence group tried to hide the incident by setting fires,” the statement said, according to AFP news agency.

The army initially claimed that the deaths were an accident after fuel supplies exploded into flames during a gun battle with separatists, while the president established a commission of inquiry to investigate the killings.

In February, one of the country’s two main opposition parties, the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC), issued a statement that said: “The dictatorial regime [and] the supreme head of the security and defence forces are chiefly responsible for these crimes.”

Conflict between Cameroon’s army and English-speaking fighters seeking to form a breakaway state called Ambazonia began after the government cracked down violently on peaceful protesters complaining of being marginalised by the French-speaking majority.

Rights groups have accused both sides of atrocities in the conflict, which has left more than 3,000 dead, closed schools and clinics, and forced 700,000 people to flee their homes.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Cameroon admitted on Tuesday that militants acting with three soldiers killed 13 civilians including 10 children in an anglophone region in the west of the country in February.

The government had previously denied any role in the massacre in the region, where English-speaking separatists have been fighting government forces for the past two years.

According to the United Nations, the death toll in the massacre on the night of February 13 left 23 civilians dead including 15 children in the village of Ntumbo.

It said nine of the children were under age five and that two of the victims were pregnant women.

In a statement read over state radio on Tuesday, the president’s office said three soldiers and a vigilante group stormed a separatist base, killing five, before “discovering that three women and 10 children were killed” in the firefight.

“Overcome with panic, the three soldiers helped by some members of the self-defence group tried to hide the incident by setting fires,” the statement said.

The army initially claimed that the deaths were an accident after fuel supplies exploded into flames during a gun battle with separatists.

Rights groups have accused both sides of atrocities in the conflict, which has left more than 3,000 dead, closed schools and clinics and forced 700,000 people to flee their homes.

(AFP)

Cameroonian President Paul Biya on Monday donated “special gifts” to fight the coronavirus, as the central African country exceeded 1,000 confirmed cases over the weekend with 42 deaths.

The country’s Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji said in a statement the gifts evaluated to the tune of 2 billion CFA francs (about 3.32 millions dollars) will be available to the 360 sub-divisions of the country to reinforce government’s measures aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

The gifts include soap, face masks, buckets, hand washing cans, rapid screening test kits and respiratory devices for hospitals.

Nji stressed that it was the president’s “personal” donation that came after he created a national solidarity fund in early April to fight the novel coronavirus.

Source: Xinhuanet

Gunmen shot dead two traditional leaders in volatile western Cameroon before being gunned down by soldiers, a local ruler said Monday, adding that the assailants were believed to be anglophone separatists.

The casualties were the president and secretary general of a traditional council, according to Afungchwi III, the king of Bambili, where the clash took place last Thursday. He said the two assailants were “probably” separatists angry over calls for disarmament by the traditional leadership and politicians.

Bambili lies in the Northwest Region, one of two regions in western Cameroon that have been rocked by violence since late 2017. Anglophone militants have launched an armed campaign to break away from the rest of Cameroon, which is majority French-speaking.

Source: AFP