In Cameroon, officials say eight villages in the English-speaking northwest have been torched and hundreds of residents have fled amid clashes this week between security forces and separatist rebels.

Terence Fukah, a 33-year-old pig farmer, told VOA he fled his village of Ajin on Tuesday as the military responded to an attack by armed men.

“It was around five o’clock in the morning. I saw dead people lying down. I had to cross on top of them and run for my dear life,” Fukah said.

“I don’t even know where my children are. I don’t even know where my wife is. I don’t know how the pigs are doing, how many have died. I don’t know if my own house has been burned. I am crying, crying for the government to do something.”

The military says armed separatist rebels torched at least eight villages in northwest Cameroon; however, residents told VOA the fires were set by the military after the attackers had fled.

“We heard gunshots. We did not know exactly what to do. Everybody was running up and down,” said Thomas Tuboh, a maize farmer from the village of Anyajua. “It was the burning that made us to know our lives were at stake, so I decided to run away from Anyajua. When the military people invaded the area, the bridges were blocked and they decided to put them down with flames.”

He said his village is now nearly completely deserted.

“You see it is a farming area that helps the whole division and the region at large. I don’t know how we are going to cope if this persists,” Tuboh said.

General Agha Robinson, who is commanding troops in the northwest region, said his soldiers were not responsible for the burning.

The crisis began in November 2016 with a strike by Anglophone lawyers and teachers, who were demanding reforms to address what they say is the marginalization of the country’s English-speaking minority by French-speakers.

The situation spiraled into all-out conflict as separatists demanded independence for the two English-speaking regions.

Thirty-eight members of the military and hundreds of rebels have been killed in the fighting, according to Cameroon’s ministry of defense. The U.N. refugee agency says tens of thousands of people have fled their homes, with at least 20,000 crossing over to neighboring Nigeria in search of safety.

There appears to be little hope for dialogue. Separatists say they will not budge on secession. Meanwhile, Cameroon has refused to release dozens of detained separatist leaders, and President Paul Biya says he will entertain no talks that threaten national unity.

Source: VOA

Law enforcement officials in Cameroon say investigations continue following a large discovery of illegal wildlife products hidden in shipping containers bound for China. At least 1,000 kilograms of pangolin scales and several hundred elephant tusks were found April 6, in containers of cocoa that were to be transported to China from the Douala international airport.

Officials have not yet determined the country of origin for the contraband. Poaching of elephants and pangolins remains a problem in Cameroon; however, the country has also served as a regional hub for smugglers. Didier Ngono, an official from the wildlife department, told VOA that three Chinese nationals have been arrested and will help police with their investigation.

Ngono says that under the law, the penalties for smuggling include fines ranging from $6,000 to $20,000 and prison sentences of between one and three years.

Cameroon has intercepted and destroyed at least two other large shipments of pangolin scales bound for Asian countries in the past two years. Eric Kaba Tah, an official with The Last Great Ape, a nongovernmental organization that helps Cameroon enforce wildlife laws, says enforcement mechanisms remain weak.

“In 2016, two Chinese traffickers were arrested with five tons of pangolin scales that were about to be illegally exported from the country to China,” Tah said. “They were given three months’ imprisonment from … the one-year minimum imprisonment they were supposed to get, and this is why we are very dissatisfied. They should be given punishment that is commensurate to their crimes.”

Both pangolins and elephants are considered critically endangered. International trade in pangolin and ivory is banned, yet consumer demand remains high in Asian countries, fueling the illegal market. Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy and the scales are used in traditional medicine.

Source: VOA

Localities in Cameroon’s southwest region experienced heavy gunfire exchanges between the state security forces and suspected separatists elements leading to the death of a soldier on Thursday.

Governor of the restive region, Bernard Okalia Bilai told the Anadolu news agency that the separatist elements had mounted road blocks in parts of the region, when the army went to clear them, the hostilities ensued.

“Armed gangs of “Ambazonia” (a terrorist group according to government) barricaded several roads in the region and when soldiers went down to clear the tracks, these terrorists attacked our forces,” he said.

The exchanges left residents stranded, some caught in the crossfire had to flee into the bushes whiles others also fled for fear of reprisals from the army, as has usually been reported.

While some officials have reported a death in the regular army, all day yesterday no official report was made public.

Civilians have borne the brunt of these armed confrontations in Cameroon’s minority Anglophone region. “Soldiers go from house to house and arrest young people suspected of belonging to the Ambazonia Defense Force (ADF). Those arrested are sequestrated, beaten and their homes burned,“said John Ngu, one of the villagers, adding that several villages have been deserted in the last 24 hours.

The allegations of security highhandedness has been dismissed severally by the army. Colonel Didier Badjeck, spokesman for the army insisted that “the army does its job professionally and with respect for human rights.”

About 40 security personnel – soldiers, police, gendarmes – and more than 500 civilians have been killed in English-speaking areas since the outbreak of the so-called Anglophone crisis in late 2016, according to the Network of Human Rights Defenders of Central Africa (REDHAC).

In addition, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 7,000 people have reportedly fled to Nigeria’s Cross River State. The Nigerian Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) refers to the figure of 28,000.

Source: Africa News

Justice Martin Mbeng, a onetime senior Southern Cameroons judge was kidnapped when gunmen stormed the funeral service of his late mother in Ewelle village in Eyumojock Sub constituency in the Manyu County. Cameroon Intelligence Report has been reliably informed that the armed men fired bullets in the air and at the vehicle that the retired justice ferried to the village.

Our senior intelligence officer revealed that retired justice Mbeng Martin made a dramatic u-turn in his long held position of benevolent neutrality and launched a negative campaign against President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, when the regime in Yaoundé informed him that President Biya had plans to appoint his younger brother Martin Mbeng Jr, French Cameroun’s current ambassador to Brazil as Prime Minister and Head of Government but that the Sisiku Ayuk Tabe issue was serving as a stone wall.

We understand the retired judge started a campaign of personal destruction that was aimed at President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe. A source in Ewelle hinted that the elders sounded a note of caution to him to stay clear of the Southern Cameroons revolution and to bear in mind that many people have been killed in Ewelle village by troops loyal to the regime in Yaoundé. His anti-revolution stance including actions against his own kinsman, the President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia attracted the abduction action from the revolutionary guards protecting Ewelle village.

The former chairman of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, Barrister Agbor Balla in a statement that sparked outrage strongly condemned the targeting of prominent Southern Cameroonians by the Ambazonian freedom fighters and demanded that those responsible for these acts be brought to justice.

Nearly 240 French Cameroun soldiers have been killed in the Manyu County that includes Akwaya, Eyumojock, Upper Banyang and Mamfe Central ever since the Ambazonia revolution started a year ago and spiraled into an armed conflict following the abduction of the President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe in Abuja, Nigeria.

Thousands of Southern Cameroons have been killed in the war initially fought between troops loyal to President Biya, against Ambazonia forces in Manyu known as the “Odeshi Boys.” Violence has spread throughout Southern Cameroons and now involves most of the nation’s English speaking groups.The United Nations has not commented on the deteriorating situation in West Cameroon.

The French Cameroun government forces stand accused of targeting Southern Cameroons population including women and children and sometimes deliberately shooting at innocent civilians. Cameroon Concord News Group Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai has called for the release of Justice Martin Mbeng and any other Southern Cameroonian detained by the Ambazonian freedom fighters.

A prominent figure of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate from Kendem village, Rose Arongagbor was detained recently but later on released.

By Chi Prudence Asong with files from Rita Akana and Sama Ernest

Cameroon Concord News has learned that another bomb exploded today in the Lebialem County in Southern Cameroons.  We understand the installation ceremony for the new DO for Lebialem was slated for today Monday in Menji, the headquarters of the Division.  Our correspondent in the Ambazonia constituency reported that the DO arrived Alou in the morning from Dschang in a military convoy.

The DO and his French Cameroun military entourage came under attack around Nchobenyae. We gathered that 7 soldiers were killed and several others were seriously wounded.  The remains of the troops were transported to Menji and later to Dschang. The wounded are currently receiving treatment at MHA Hospital in Nveh.  The DO’s car managed to escape the attack.

Earlier on Saturday a military truck transporting soldiers from Mamfe to reinforce the deployment in Azi was also attacked by the Lebialem Dragons. The soldiers reportedly screamed and begged for help. In Alou, a military truck on patrol came under fire but no casualties were recorded. Today’s explosion in Lebialem is the 4th in Just 3 Days. An explosion at Beluah last Friday killed 9, and injured several other soldiers.

By Chi Prudence Asong with files from Menji

Press Release

Limbe, Monday, April 9, 2018: After its maiden edition in 2016 and following a break in 2017 due to
uncertainties from the ongoing Anglophone Crisis, the COURAGE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS is back. The
awards will be presented in a ceremony in Limbe on World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2018.

Journalists, news organizations and journalism enthusiasts among the general public are requested to
nominate articles that fulfill the following criteria:

– Articles, blogs, broadcast and podcast clips published between May 4, 2017 and April 25, 2018;
– Articles, blogs, broadcast and podcast clips that demonstrate courage in newsgathering, courage
in the tone of narration and courage in the decision to have them published;
– Articles and blogs published in a newspaper or online, radio or TV broadcasts or podcasts:
– Entries that meet journalism standards;
– If none of the entries fulfill these conditions, awards may not be presented.

The following shall constitute the Panel of Judges:
– Alice Esambe Tatah: former CRTV journalist of Morning Safari fame;
– Hilary Kebila Fokum: Publisher/Editor of The Messenger and Yaounde Messenger;
– Gideon Taka: Emeritus Radio Cameroon/CRTV Editor and Station Manager and Journalism
Trainer;
– Victor Epie’Ngome: Emeritus Radio Cameroon/CRTV Editor-in-Chief, Director of Civil Initiatives
for Development with Integrity (CIDI) and Journalism Trainer

The Judges shall be assisted by Franklin Sone Bayen, Publisher of MEDIApeople and Journalism Trainer,
as Administration Secretary.
Entries may be nominated in the following ways:
– ONLINE ENTRIES: email the link(s) with name of author(s) and news organization
– NEWSPAPER: scan the entire article(s) and email with name of author(s), issue reference (date
and serial no.);
– RADIO/TV: email uploaded clip or link or post CD/DVD to the Jury as follows:
– South West: Victor Epie’Ngome (677524478/654741961)
– North West: Gideon Taka (694126830/650072258)
– Yaounde: Alice Esambe Tatah (673026370)
Hilary Kebila Fokum (677339858/696847781)
Franklin Sone Bayen (677897167/693693881)

– All entries must be received latest April 25, 2018 at midnight local time.
Entries for the COURAGE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS may be emailed to:
courageinjournalismawards@gmail.com
The COURAGE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS is organized jointly by MEDIApeople, CiDi and CReAM.

A prominent human rights activist in Cameroon has accused the army of causing civilian deaths through fires of houses and places of worship in the English-speaking region of the South-West, an accusation rejected by the army.

Agbor Bala Nkongho, director of the NGO Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, posted on his Facebook page, a chilling account that describes a miliary raid on a remote village in the region.

“On Tuesday, April 3, the Cameroonian army attacked and burned several houses in Mungo Vendeur, a small village located about 40 km from Nguti to Koupé-Manengouba (South-West). Ms Egbe Maria Ndonge was burned to death in her house while she slept,” said Nkongho.

Cameroon has been independent since 1960 and has no lessons to learn in the way its defence forces legally pursue their missions of securing populations.

“We have received reports of 6 civilians killed and reports of civilian killings in the village. Intentionally killing civilians and destroying civilian property are war crimes, which should be thoroughly investigated,” he continued.

Nkongho was one of the leaders of the first uprising of the English-speaking protest at the end of 2016. Arrested in mid-2017, he was released in September by presidential decree.

It is in this area that 12 Italian and Swiss tourists were briefly arrested by armed men on Monday, according to their travel agency.

The army responds

“Cameroon has been independent since 1960 and has no lessons to learn in the way its defence forces legally pursue their missions of securing populations. We also do not intend to respond to maneuvers of intoxication and diversion,” Colonel Didier Badjeck, spokesman for the Cameroonian army, contacted by telephone from Libreville, told AFP.

“It is extraordinary how some of these so-called actors of the region have resorted to faking the truth, or transforming it. We ask that evidence of these alleged abuses by our forces is presented to us,” he added.

Since the end of 2017, the security situation has deteriorated considerably in the English-speaking regions of the North-West and South-West, with armed separatist groups multiplying violent actions against state forces and kidnapping civil servants.

Yaoundé responded by force, deploying a strong security apparatus. The army has been accused several times of abuses through testimonies in the press and on social networks.

Observers fear that the Anglophone crisis could disrupt presidential elections scheduled to be held at the end of 2018.

AFP

Cameroon has banned the sale of arms and ammunition in six regions of the country, including the two English-speaking regions where a deep socio-political crisis has played out for over a year, the authorities announced Thursday.

The Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, has decreed “the prohibition, until further notice, of the sale of hunting and protection weapons and their ammunition in the Adamaoua, Central, Littoral, West, North-West and South-West regions”, according to a statement.

“To date, the number of firearms in circulation far exceeds the number of authorizations duly granted by the competent authorities,” the minister said in the text.

To date, the number of firearms in circulation far exceeds the number of authorizations duly granted by the competent authorities.

Cameroon has ten regions. Among these, the two English-speaking regions (Southwest and Northwest) have been at the center of a political crisis since the end of 2016 awhile their neighbouring regions (Littoral, West) are also affected by the ban.

For more than three months, the Anglophone crisis has turned into an armed conflict of low intensity, where an armed branch of the Anglophone separatists, who are agitating for secession from Cameroon and the creation of a new state, “Ambazonia”, is fighting the security forces deployed in numbers by Yaoundé.

English-speaking separatists have killed 28 members of the security forces since late 2017, according to an AFP compilation based on official statements. Other observers in Yaoundé speak of a higher toll.

In addition, the Amadoua region affected by the ban is neighbouring the Central African Republic, where state authority is weak in provinces where armed groups fight for control of resources and influence.

According to the text, the armouries of the six regions concerned will have to be closed and an inventory of the weapons which are there will have to be drawn up.

The minister has asked holders of unauthorized weapons to turn them over to local authorities and those with legally recognized weapons to register.

In November and February, the authorities in the south-west and north-west respectively banned the sale of arms in their regions on a temporary basis.

Presidential elections are scheduled to be held later this year, even as the ruling party Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) won 63 out of the 70 senate seats in local elections held on March 25.

AFP

The Philemon Yang administration has reportedly launched a crusade against the publication of administrative documents on social media. Cameroon Concord News gathered that the so-called head of government took offense at the publication of confidential documents and information from state institutions and public sector bodies.

Some of these documents, some of which are issued by the Francophone dominated security services, often bearing the words “CONFIDENTIAL”, “SECRET” or “VERY SECRET”, are “sensitive”. Philemon Yang was quoted as saying that these publications affect “the effectiveness of public action” and also constitute “serious” attacks on the security of the state, increasingly subject to security threats in many forms.

The Prime Minister gave standing instructions for cabinet ministers to systematically bring before the competent disciplinary bodies the public officials presumed guilty of violating the obligation of professional discretion. Philemon Yang has also ordered the National Agency for Information Technologies (ANTIC) and the National Center for Development of Informatics (CENADI), to be involved.

By Sama Ernest