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

The Biya regime has received 100 respirators and 300 thousand diagnostic test kits to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

State media reported that the cargo ordered by the Cameroon government, arrived on Saturday at the Yaounde Nsimalen International Airport transported by Ethiopian Airlines cargo flight.

Health officials say the arrival of the respirators and diagnostic kits with help the government to fight against the spread of the Corvid-19 in the country.

 On Friday the regime confirmed 1017 coronavirus cases and it is now being reported that the death toll from the deadly virus has doubled.

Adamaoua region registered its first COVID-19 case making it the eight out of the ten regions to be contaminated.

By Rita Akana

The number of deaths related to the coronavirus disease in Cameroon increased from 22 to 42 in just 24 hours.

According to the Francophone Minister of Public Health, 42 patients have died in Cameroon since the first case of coronavirus was confirmed on March 6.

On Friday evening, the minister announced 22 deaths and on Saturday, in just 24 hours, 20 more deaths were recorded, bringing the number of deaths related to the pandemic from Covid-19 to 42. 

Correspondingly, the public health boss revealed that some 305 patients were cured compared to 177 on Friday. The minister also said 176 positive cases are hospitalized, 33 of which are on oxygen therapy.

Yaoundé recently announced that over 1017 people have tested positive for the virus. Cameroon Concord News understands the most infected age group is between 30 to 40 years old, followed by the 40s to 50s.

Nearly 80% of the dead are at least 50 years old while 20% are between 40 and 50 years old. 

Statistics revealed by the Scientific Council of Public Health Emergencies, indicate that 8 out of 10 people who die of coronavirus in Cameroon are men.

It is vital to include in this report that  8 out of the 10 so-called one and indivisible Cameroon regions are now affected by coronavirus disease.   

Yaounde recently received 100 respirators and 300,000 test kits for Covid-19.

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon consolidated its spot as Central Africa’s most impacted nation doubling its coronavirus tally in fifteen days and going past the 1,000 mark.

In early April, the country’s infection stood at 509. It has reached 1,017 as of April 18 according to records by the john Hopkins University tracking site. There are 117 recoveries with 22 deaths.

A social media push for President Paul Biya to address the nation did not pay off exactly but the president popped up on Thursday after a long public absence.

His meeting with the French ambassador was the first time he had directly commented on the COVID-19 crisis. A post on his official social media handles said he had discussed cooperation with the ambassador in the fight against the rampaging pandemic.

Cameroon like most African countries closed its borders – land, sea and air, suspended all academic activities but has not imposed a lockdown or curfew. Coordination of COVID-19 efforts has largely rested on Prime Minister Dion Ngute.

In early April, a month after the first case of COVID-19 was recorded, Cameroonians mounted a social media campaign demanding that 87-year-old Paul Biya addresses the nation like most of his peers across the continent were doing.

April 3: Cameroon records 203 new cases as COVID-19 tally hits 509

Cameroon’s coronavirus tally as of April 3 stood at 509, Health Minister Manaouda Malachie confirmed in his daily briefing posted on Twitter.

Of the current figure, 203 were new cases that came from tests run 800 travellers arrived in the country recently. Cameroon also has 17 recovered patients with eight deaths.

“Our active case finding strategy is starting to pay off. We did 800 tests (majority of travelers) 203 of them are positive but asymptomatic, that we must leave the community and treat,” the Minister wrote in his post.

Cameroon is the most impacted country across Central Africa. Only DR Congo have passed the 100 mark in the region with 134. Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo Republic, Central African Republic and Chad have 21, 16, 22, 8 and 8 cases respectively.

The Minister in outlining government strategy to deal with the pandemic said six main measures were being implemented: massive and generalized testing, placement in immediate treatment of cases, active surveillance of suspect cases.

The remaining are awareness of the populations (hygiene, distance), border control and development of reliable local expertise for the response.

Culled from Africa News

Human rights groups fear the worst for 130 Cameroonian civilians that remain missing following their arrest five years ago by the army on suspicion of belonging to the Boko Haram .

The individuals were arrested in the Far North as the Nigerian terror group launched its first attack on Cameroonian soil.

The boys and men aged between 12 and 60 years old were arrested in the villages of Doublé and Magdémé, which were the epicentre of attacks by the Islamist sect.

Army personnel initially arrested 200 individuals. After some time denying the arrests, the government in 2016 acknowledged the crackdown.

It disclosed that at least 25 men died in custody on the evening of their arrest. Identities of the deceased or burial places were not revealed.

The government also acknowledged that 45 other men were taken to and registered at Maroua prison. Three of them died in detention.

“All the others remain unaccounted for,” said a spokesperson of the human rights group, Amnesty International.

The organisation maintained doubts on the whereabouts of those that have not been accounted for.

It demanded that the government of President Paul Biya ensured justice for the victims and their families.

In 2015, Biya dismissed Colonel Charles Zé Onguéné, who headed the anti-terror operation at the time of the arrests.

He was charged with “negligence and breach of custody law.”

Source: CAJ News

Five bodies were discovered on Friday in Bambili, a locality in the Tubah district, Mezam County in the Northern Zone of Southern Cameroons.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that the men found dead were royals and employees on duty at the Fon’s palace in Bambili.

Our correspondent in Bamenda confirmed that the Fon’s Palace of Bambili came under attack from heavily armed Ambazonia Restoration Forces. The attackers entered the Bambili Palace and killed five persons who were on royal duty on that fateful day.

The Southern Cameroons self defense commander controlling the area recently blamed the Fon and his notables for French Cameroun army atrocities in Mezam. The Fon reportedly started a pro Yaounde campaign last month calling on Ambazonian fighters to lay down their weapons.  

A Cameroon government army spokesman in Bamenda confirmed the attack on the Bambili palace and added that dozens of secessionist training camps have been dismantled by the defense and security forces in Mezam.

The Southern Cameroons crisis that has been shaking the so-called one and indivisible Cameroon since late October 2016, has led to an armed conflict between Cameroon government army soldiers and Ambazonia Restoration Forces.

According to the UN, more than 700,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia as a result of the conflict. And more than 35,000 others have fled to neighbouring Nigeria.

The Southern Cameroons leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe told Jeune Afrique International magazine that some 30,000 Ambazonians have died as a result of the conflict. 

By Fon Lawrence in Bamenda

French Cameroun President has announced steps that will lead to the release of thousands of prisoners due to concerns about the coronavirus spreading in overcrowded facilities.

However, citizens from the Federal Republic of Ambazonia fighting for an independent state of Southern Cameroons and French Cameroun government officials jailed for corruption are excluded.  Rights groups also note that Biya’s political opponents and journalists critical of his rule will remain behind bars.

Camcordnews with files from VOA

Fellow Ambazonians,

I come to you this evening alarmed after the Interim Government was dependably informed that at 5 pm today, Penn Terrence Kahn, an Ambazonian prisoner of conscience, serving a 12 years jail term in the Yaoundé central prison was invited to the superintendent’s office for a five hour interrogation without lawyers.

At 6 pm, President Julius Ayuk Tabe, Barrister Blaise Shufai and Barrister Elias Eyambe were also taken out of the Kondengui Principal Prison by French Cameroun Gendarmes to an unknown destination.

French Cameroun authorities must be aware of the measures and guidelines put in place by the WHO to combat the spread of the coronavirus. As a government, we notified the French Cameroun regime that the health and integrity of our leaders is of paramount importance at this moment of a global pandemic and any transgression from them upon our leaders will be against international law and practices and as nation, we shall deal with this unlawfulness robustly.

We notified our legal team instantly and they will be visiting both prisons tomorrow to ascertain the facts.

In the meantime,we are pleased to inform you that President Ayuk Tabe and the other Ambazonian leaders are back in their cells this evening after taken to the office of the court administrator to explain why their appeal hasn’t been heard.

We want to thank you all for your patience during the last five hours. We advise that you maintain all the procedures put in place in Ambazonia and in your countries of residence to combat the COVID-19.

Thanks for your patience and God Bless Ambazonia

Vice President

Dabney Yerima

Dozens of people were arrested on Monday and Tuesday in Cameroon’s commercial capital Douala for disregarding guidelines on fighting COVID-19 in the country, according to the police.

Police said over 50 people including six policemen were arrested for not wearing face masks in public places and drinking in beer parlours after 6 p.m. local time (1700 GMT).

“If we must fight and win coronavirus, citizens have to be compelled to respect the guidelines put in place by the government. Some people are just too stubborn and that will not be tolerated,” Issa Daouda, sub-prefect of Douala 4 Municipality told reporters during an inspection tour on Monday.

All those arrested were granted bail to avoid crowding them in police cells, said Mathias Fombele Tayem, sub-prefect of Douala 5 Municipality.

The government has made mask-wearing compulsory, and banned gathering of more than 50 people and drinking in bars after 6 p.m. as part of the measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Cameroon has reported to date 855 confirmed cases, according to Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), making it one of the African countries worst hit by the pandemic.

Source: Xinhuanet

Cameroon’s government should publish the findings of an investigation into the massacre of 21 civilians, including 13 children and a pregnant woman, on February 14, 2020, Human Rights Watch said today.

The government has formally denied responsibility for the killings in Ngarbuh village, North-West region, but investigations by journalists and nongovernmental organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have documented compelling evidence that points to the Cameroonian military’s responsibility for the killings.

“It has been two months since the Ngarbuh massacre, which stands as a prime example of the impunity for the Cameroonian security forces,” said Lewis Mudge Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Cameroon’s government should immediately make the findings of its investigation public and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.”

In a report issued on February 25, Human Rights Watch detailed how Cameroonian military and armed ethnic Fulani deliberately killed 21 civilians in Ngarbuh. Human Rights Watch research points to the attack being a reprisal against villagers accused of supporting and harboring armed separatists.

On March 1, following international pressure, President Paul Biya agreed to establish a commission of inquiry. However, the authorities have not made any public statement concerning the composition of the commission, its work, or its findings.

In a March 25 news release, the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedom revealed that its chairperson, Dr. Chemuta Divine Banda, was appointed to the commission of inquiry and that the investigation was led by the minister delegate of the presidency in charge of defense. Before the March 25 press release, the composition of the investigation team into the killings in Ngarbuh was not public. The human rights commission members expressed their hope that the findings would be made public.

While the participation of the head of the National Human Rights Commission is an encouraging sign, the appointment of the defense minister to lead the inquiry raises concerns about its independence, Human Rights Watch said.

The killings in Ngarbuh were widely condemned, including by the United Nations Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and the Nobel Women’s Initiative. On February 22, referring to the killings, French President Emmanuel Macron promised to exert “maximum pressure” on Biya to end “Cameroon’s intolerable human rights violations.”

The Human Rights Watch findings on Ngarbuh were corroborated by investigative journalists from the New York Times. The New Humanitarian, Cameroonian Civil Society Organizations, and the Catholic Church also issued reports accusing the army of responsibility for the massacre.

Despite the widespread condemnation of the crimes in Ngarbuh, the government has remained largely silent and instead engaged in a smear campaign against national and international organizations. In a March 9 statement, the territorial administration minister, Paul Atanga Nji, accused media, nongovernmental groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and UN agencies of – among other things – fueling terrorism, destabilizing Cameroon, and producing fake reports to tarnish the image of Cameroon’s security forces.

The attack in Ngarbuh was not an isolated case, but part of a larger pattern of serious human rights abuses by the Cameroonian security forces in the Anglophone regions, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch has documented multiple abusive counterinsurgency operations by the security forces in the North-West and South-West regions since 2017.

Research has found that government forces have killed civilians, burned dozens of villages, arbitrarily arrested, and tortured hundreds of alleged armed separatists. Armed separatists have also been responsible for serious abuses. They have targeted civilians, kidnapped hundreds of people, tortured and killed perceived opponents, and used intimidation and violence to keep children and their teachers out of school. In February, separatists prevented local elections from taking place.

Violence in the Anglophone regions over the last 3 years has claimed an estimated 3,000 lives and caused the displacement of over 730,000 civilians.

Cameroon, like elsewhere, is currently facing an unprecedented public health crisis due to the spread of Covid-19. It is the most heavily affected country in Central Africa, with over 840 cases recorded and 14 deaths as of April 14. The pandemic has not halted the violence in the Anglophone regions.

“The Covid-19 crisis, while paramount, should not displace the need to take action on key human rights concerns and ensure accountability for serious military abuse,” Mudge said. “In a time of national crisis, transparency is all the more valuable, and the government should demonstrate that it will hold abusive members of its military accountable for the deliberate killing of civilians.”

Culled from Human Rights Watch