21, January 2019
Ambazonia Interim Gov’t warns Dion Ngute: “Don’t play with fire” 0
Operation commanders loyal to the Ambazonian Interim Government in both the Southern and Northern Zones have advised the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé against playing with fire after it was revealed Prime Minister Dion Ngute may stage a home coming visit to Southern Cameroons anytime soon.
Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered from sources deep within the Southern Cameroons Interim Government that Ambazonian Restoration forces were ready to deliver a strong response to any French Cameroun military convoy transporting Mr. Dion Ngute to the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.
We understand the 85 year old President Biya recently dispatched his Secretary of State in the Ministry of Defense in Charge of the National Gendarmerie, Yves Galax Landry Etoga to the Southern Zone to get a real assessment of the situation.
Yves Galax arrived the Southern Cameroons capital, Buea on January 14, 2019 and reportedly had secret security briefings from the leadership of the Gendarmerie Legion in the South West, Squadron No 80 and the Gendarmerie Post in Bonjongo. The Biya emissary was also at the Military Hospital in Buea were he got intelligence of the number of soldiers killed and injured in the Southern Zone.
A Special Representative of the Ambazonian Homeland Security Chief in Buea observed that the appointment of Mr. Dion Ngute was a move by the French Cameroun regime to test the Ambazonian Interim Government’s reaction. “Nonetheless, any act of provocation against Southern Cameroonians by the so-called Prime Minister Dion Ngute could backfire on French Cameroun as hundreds of Ambazonia fighters in the Fako County are ready to strike targets at Bongo Square”, he warned.
The IG’s Special Representative made it clear that Ambazonia Restoration Forces were the official self-defense organization funded by the Southern Cameroons Interim Government and therefore has the right to defend the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.
By Chi Prudence Asong with contributions from Sama Ernest in Buea
23, January 2019
Biya Regime Mobilizes Military Following Boko Haram, Ambazonian Attacks 0
Cameroon says it is mobilizing troops along the country’s northern border with Nigeria and in the western English-speaking regions, following renewed attacks by Boko Haram in the north and separatists in the west.
Cameroon’s military calls for troops to assemble at its headquarters in Yaounde ahead of major deployments.
Defense Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Rene Claude Meka said 2019 will see Cameroon fight for national unity and territorial integrity.
He said they have re-mobilized the military to all trouble spots. Boko Haram, the Nigeria-based Islamist terrorist group, is again recruiting fighters in Cameroon and attacking our northern border, said Meka. Meanwhile, separatists fighting to create an English-speaking state have recruited mercenaries from neighboring countries to destabilize Cameroon, he said.
Cameroon’s military says there is a Boko Haram resurgence on its northern border with Nigeria. It reports five attacks across the border and in the Lake Chad basin this month.
Last week three people were reported killed in the border town of Fotokol as troops repelled a Boko Haram attack.
Separatist fighting also intensified in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions in the northwest and southwest. The military said at least 45 rebels have been killed in the first three weeks of the year. Separatists say they are the ones killing the soldiers.
Although the numbers cannot be independently verified, villagers have confirmed fighting has recently increased.
Twenty-seven-year-old Elengu Noella said two of her three children were killed in heavy fighting around the southwestern town of Buea and she has not been able to find her husband.
She said a Catholic Church Hospital ambulance helped her and four other women escape as a battle raged between Cameroon’s military and separatists.
Separatists seeking an independent English-speaking state are accused of abducting and killing opponents and trying to make their regions ungovernable.
Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo said President Paul Biya also ordered troops to Cameroon’s eastern border. He said spill-over from fighting in the Central African Republic has increased criminal activities.
“2019 will not be a bed of roses. We shall continue with various operations in the far north, northwest and southwest regions, reactivation of special operations in the Adamawa region where criminal groups specialized in kidnapping are wreaking havoc and requesting for ransom,” he said.
Isaac Sama is a political analyst at Cameroon’s Center for Peace and Development. He said while troop deployments to fight foreign invaders is justified, the government should attempt to negotiate with the separatists.
Sama said more and more civilians are displaced by the fighting each time the military attacks the rebels.
“We have practical situations of people who actually died and then those who are in the bushes, they are also in bad conditions. They have no access to anything.”
Cameroon says since fighting broke out with separatists in 2016, more than 1,200 people have been killed and nearly a quarter million displaced.
VOA