Four people were killed and two others kidnapped in separate overnight attacks in the far north of Cameroon, blamed on the Islamist group Boko Haram, sources told AFP on Thursday. Three of the victims were “slaughtered” in Kolofata, a town which borders Nigeria and that has seen a spate of attacks blamed on the jihadists, said a source close to the security services.

A security officer in the region confirmed the information to AFP, and that two people were also abducted. In a second overnight attack, Boko Haram fighters are believed to have killed one person and injured another in nearby Ashigashiya, also by the Nigerian border, said the security officer. The jihadists also burned some 60 boxes of grain and motorcycles, he added. The attacks come after Cameroon and three other West African states launched a major offensive against the jihadist group in Borno state, in north east Nigeria this week.

Cameroon soldiers, along with troops from Chad, Nigeria and Niger, are targeting a Boko Haram faction led by Abubakar Shekau in the Sambisa Forest, and another led by Mamman Nur, on and around Lake Chad.

According to the Nigerian military, scores of jihadists have been killed and hundreds of others have been forced to surrender in recent days. Boko Haram began its bloody insurgency in Nigeria in 2009, seeking to install an extremist Islamic state in the country. The militants began cross-border attacks in 2014, and have regularly carried out raids in Cameroon, killing, looting and kidnapping villagers.

Since 2014, Cameroon has been fighting a military campaign against the group, including cross-border operations with Nigerian troops. But the group is estimated to have killed some 2,000 civilians and soldiers, and abducted more than a thousand people, in the last four years. Across the region, violence committed by Boko Haram has killed at least 20,000 and displaced more than 2.6 million people.

Source:AFP

Cameroon President Paul Biya says he will destroy all terrorists whom he says are fighting to separate his country or using it as a hiding place for armed attacks on neighboring states. In a message, Biya reiterated he was open for dialogue with the disgruntled English speaking minority in the bilingual country but that his military would deal with armed separatists fighting for the independence of the English speaking regions.

FILE – A still image taken from a video shot on Oct. 1, 2017, shows protesters waving Ambazonian flags in front of a road block in the English-speaking city of Bamenda, Cameroon.

President Paul Biya says it is his duty to ensure public order, social peace, the unity of the nation and Cameroon’s integrity, and so he has issued instructions that all those who have taken up arms, who perpetrate or encourage violence should be fought relentlessly and held accountable for their crimes before the courts of law.

“It is my firm belief that fast-tracking our decentralization process will enhance the development of our Regions,” he said. “To that end, I have ordered the implementation of the necessary measures to speedily give effect to this major reform. We will contribute towards consolidating the rule of law and open a new page in our democratic process.”

Many Cameroonians had expected Biya to be lenient towards armed insurgents and invite them to the negotiation table.

FILE – Soldiers patrol in Bafut, in the northwest English-speaking region of Cameroon, Nov. 15, 2017.

Biya said he requested the government engage in constructive dialogue with English speakers to seek solutions to their demands. But he added that he will destroy all those who have taken arms against the state, which he reiterated will remain one and indivisible.

He however pledged to make Cameroon a decentralized unitary state by implementing decentralization as spelled out in the country’s constitution.

Rene Emmanuel Sadi, Cameroon’s minister of territorial administration and decentralization, says the decentralization Biya spoke about encounters many challenges.

“We started implementing this process effectively since 2010, but of course we can ascertain the fact that the there are still some difficulties, there are still some problems,” he said. “The councils complain that the resources put at their disposal do not allow them to respond to the needs of the populations and to the implementation of their projects.”

FILE – In this photo taken Feb. 19, 2015, Cameroon soldiers check a truck on the border between Cameroon and Nigeria as they combat regional Islamic extremists force’s including Boko Haram.

Until a few years ago, Cameroon was referred to as a peace haven because it had never experienced major challenges. But the Boko Haram insurgency on its northern border with Nigeria that started four years ago has killed more than 25,000 people, and displaced millions of people in Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger according to the United Nations.

FILE – Refugees sit at the door of their home at the Minawao Refugee Camp in northern Cameroon.

The spillover of the carnage in the Central African Republic (CAR) is also felt on the central African state’s border with CAR with repeated cases of kidnappings for ransom and attacks by armed men.

Adolph Deben Tchoffo, governor of Cameroon’s English speaking north west region, says he supports Paul Biya’s determination to eliminate the armed separatists so that schools can reopen and businesses pick up in the English speaking areas of Cameroon more than one year after they were hampered by the crisis.

“We are begging for peace and we are leaving no stone on turned to maintain long lasting security, securing the population, asking the population to mobilize themselves to support government to make sure the economic activity, the social activity in the region comes back to normalcy,” he said.

Biya said Cameroonians desire greater participation in managing their affairs, especially at the local level and as such he will make sure the constitution is respected fully.

Cameroon will hold local council, parliamentary and presidential elections in 2018. Many hope the polls will be transparent. Biya has been president for 35 years, winning in elections opposition political parties say are always rigged to favor him.

Source: VOA

A female suicide bomber blew herself up in a cafe in Cameroon’s far north region Sunday, killing at least one person and wounding 28 others, witnesses told AFP.

Witnesses said the woman entered the cafe at around 7:00 am (0600 GMT) before detonating her explosive vest in Bia, a village close to the border with Nigeria. The area has seen frequent attacks by the Boko Haram jihadist group in recent years. Those hurt in the blast were taken to a nearby hospital, witnesses said.

Since 2014, when Cameroon began its fight against Boko Haram, the group has killed at least 2,000 civilians and military personnel and kidnapped a thousand more in the country’s far north, according to the International Crisis Group.

Since the group emerged eight years ago, it has launched attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad — the nations bordering Lake Chad — and caused the deaths of at least 20,000 people and the displacement of more than 2.6 million.

Since today Sunday, December 31, 2017, there has been an exceptional deployment of defense and security forces in some areas of the Southwest Region that is worrying to many Southern Cameroonians. Apart from the security measures taken by the regime in Yaoundé to protect the country during this festive period, the major military buildup in Fako, Meme and Manyu Divisions ordered by the Delegate General for National Security, the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization has not been welcomed by the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Cameroon Concord News has been reliably informed that Joseph Beti Assomo, the defense minister has decided to spend the New Year Day with the Francophone dominated  defense forces in Manyu. In preparation for the Minister’s coming, Cameroon government troops have invaded nearly all the streets of Mamfe, the chief town in Manyu Division.

For three days running, helicopters have been making turns over the town. But today Sunday it was serious as taxis and motorcycles were not allowed to circulate. The movement of people has been reduced and neighborhood entrances are militarized.  Soldiers have been deployed from Tiko via Kumba to Mamfe to protect the visiting minister.

By Judith Fon

The 30th of December 2017 has been described by a Roman Catholic clergy as a day that will live in infamy in Okoyong history.  It was indeed a day that elements of the Francophone dominated police force stormed the village of Okoyong some 6 kilometers from Mamfe the chief town in Manyu Division and brutally murdered a young and promising Roman Catholic Christian, Prince Akwo Carlson. Cameroon Concord News understands two other Roman Catholics were shot and they are presently receiving treatment for serious injuries.

The Francophone security officers forcefully took the late Carlson away from his  mother on lame and ridiculous reasons that they were staging what is known as “cale cale”. He was beaten and when he attempted to escape for his dear life, one of the Francophone officers shot and killed him. His mother told our Manyu bureau chief that he was shot at very close range on his forehead. His body was ferried away and buried in one of the mass graves in Mamfe town.

For the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Church in Southern Cameroons, a Catholic priest in his homily invoked the God of vengeance to punish the officer who fired the shot and all those serving in the Biya regime. In a related development, a mentally ill person was shot in the chest in Mamfe on the 29^th of December, 2017.

By Judith Fon in Mamfe

A former mayor in Cameroon arrested in September 2014 for alleged complicity with Boko Haram was acquitted Thursday, a week after a Radio France International correspondent was released on terrorism charges. Moussa Ramat, the ex-mayor of Fotokol in Cameroon’s far north, was accused of supplying weapons to the jihadist group and assisting in the sale of looted goods from Boko Haram fighters.

His lawyer Eugene Balemaken told AFP the accusations “did not correspond to reality”. “He was therefore properly acquitted following the debates.” Sources said the former mayor regularly intervened before his arrest in several negotiations that resulted in the release of Boko Haram hostages.

Ramat could be released very soon, said Balemaken, who called the trial of his client as “unfair” because of his help with negotiations.

After serving 29 months in jail, RFI correspondent Ahmed Abba was acquitted on December 22 after being suspected of collaborating with Boko Haram and not passing on information to the authorities. He was released the following day.

Since 2014, when Cameroon began its fight against Boko Haram, the group has killed at least 2,000 soldiers and civilians and kidnapped 1,000 people in the country’s far north region, according to the International Crisis Group.

At least 20,000 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million displaced in the eight-year conflict, which has destroyed livelihoods and triggered a humanitarian crisis. About 1.8 million people live in camps or with relatives in Nigeria’s worst-affected states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. Others have fled to Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Source: AFP

The pro ruling CPDM party’s so-called National Anti-Corruption Commission (CONAC), – the body in charge of the fight against corruption in Cameroon has revealed that the nation suffered an estimated loss of 1246 billion FCFA in the last five years.

The CONAC report stated that a survey carried out at the general treasury in Buea, Southern Cameroons found fictitious payments of court fees amounting to 7,956 billion FCFA from January 2011 to June 2016.

In Bertoua, the chief city in the East region fraudulent payments were valued at CFAF 1.699 billion in the general treasury from January 2014 to July 2016.

Last year, CONAC said it registered 2,402 reports of corruption as against 3,268 in 2015 from all the 10 regions.  The fake anti corruption body stated that areas were corruption is rife includes land disputes, public procurement and management of resources allocated to organizations.

CONAC also pointed out that Cameroonian custom officers are among the most corrupt civil servants in Cameroon. It cited in its findings the case of the customs official who owns 13 villas, a five-storey building, 10 registered land, five 30-ton trucks, and five Toyota cars, 28-seat coaster, two 18-seater coaches, a fleet of high-end personal vehicles …

Source: Cameroon Intelligence Report

Two mass graves containing dozens of bodies have been found in Mamfe, a local human rights activist hinted Cameroon Concord News today Thursday the 28^th of December 2017, adding they appeared to belong to people who had been killed by Cameroon government forces operating in Manyu Division ever since President declared war against the people of Southern Cameroons.

The mass graves were discovered behind the old council office in Mamfe, the chief town in the Manyu constituency. Our Manyu Bureau Chief reported that one of them contained 10 bodies belonging to young people from Eshobi, Egbekaw, Besongabang and Dadi including five other villages.

They had been forced out of the Mamfe prison immediately after the attack on the gendarmerie post in Egbekaw by Cameroon government troops, according to a local human rights activist.  The number and identity of the bodies in the other mass grave was not yet known. A Mamfe Rural Council Official who spoke to us but sued for anonymity confirmed that two mass graves had been found, but declined to give more details.

Passersby found the mass graves after noticing a smell and insects there, the Council officer said. The victims belong to the Manyu ethnic group which the Yaounde regime accuses of supporting the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Dozens of armed Southern Cameroons militants have remained active in Manyu confronting the Francophone dominated army.

By Judith Fon in Mamfe

18 Cameroonian hostages have been released by the elements of the 31st Mechanized Infantry Division of the Cameroon army.

They were detained between the localities of Gamba (North) and Mbé   in the Adamaoua, two neighboring areas in the north of Cameroon where arm robbery and attacks on the motorway are rife.

During the operation that led to their release, four of the hostages were wounded and were evacuated to the Norwegian hospital in N’gaoundere. Among the hostages are traders, farmers and cattle dealers.

By Rita Akana

A soldier from the Rapid Intervention Battalion (Bir) – an elite unit of the Cameroonian army – was killed on Monday in Egbekaw following an attack attributed to Southern Cameroons Defense Force. The death of the soldier has been confirmed by the military authorities in Manyu Division. The attack has also been claimed by an Ambazonia militia group with ties to the SCNC.

Southern Cameroons armed attacks against Cameroon government forces are now spreading all over the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. Not far from the border with Nigeria, specifically in Toko, 3 other soldiers were wounded. After October 1, 2017, the date of the symbolic proclamation of independence, at least 89 Cameroonian soldiers have been killed in attacks claimed by Anglophone militants.

By Sama Ernest