News

1, May 2020

French Cameroun-funded bike riders group organises protest in Bamenda ⁰

A political group from Yaoundé and a sea of French Cameroun army soldiers posing as bike riders heavily funded by French Cameroun’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji have organized a raucous rally in Bamenda, the chief city in the Northern Zone of Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia calling on the occupying Biya regime to reform bike laws in the Mezam County. The participants did wear protective masks not as an anti COVID-19 gesture but to hide their identities from Ambazonia Restoration Forces. The Atanga Nji militia men did not observe social distancing recommendations.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered from a well-placed source in Yaoundé that the protest was organized and funded by the French Cameroun Minister of Territorial Administration with many of the participants transported to Bamenda from French Cameroun’s West Region.

Despite Mezam County having the highest number of French Cameroun military operations in recent times, along with nearly 98 deaths in Bafut, French Cameroun surrogate, Minister Paul Atanga Nji reportedly fighting for his political survival sponsored the Bamenda demonstration to give the impression that the Mezam County was now under the control of the Francophone dominated army.

One of the participants who spoke to our correspondent claimed Minister Atanga Nji did not sponsor the demonstration but that it was financed from Yaoundé.

The Ambazonia Vice President Dabney Yerima is expected to chair a town hall meeting in the coming days to redirect the Southern Cameroons struggle to self defense.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

1, May 2020

Russian Prime Minister Mishustin tests positive for Covid-19 ⁰

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Thursday said he tested positive for Covid-19 and will self-isolate to protect other cabinet members.

“I have just learned that the test on the coronavirus I took was positive,” Mishustin said in a video meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, suggesting a deputy takes his place while he self-isolates.

Mishustin suggested that Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov should serve as acting prime minister in his absence. Putin supported his proposal and signed a decree appointing Belousov as a temporary replacement.

Russia has so far recorded 106,498 cases and 1,073 coronavirus-related deaths.

Mishustin, 54 was named prime minister in January following the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev. Putin’s choice of an obscure former tax service chief to replace Medvedev came as a surprise to most Russians.

‘Call me’ from hospital

During a video call, Putin voiced hope that Mishustin would continue taking part in drafting policies to shore up the Russian economy, which has been hurt by the virus pandemic.

“Call me as soon as you arrive at the hospital,” said Putin

In Russia, the prime minister oversees the economy and answers to the president.

It was not immediately clear when Putin last met with Mishustin in person. The Russian president has minimised meetings and switched to holding video conferences with officials during the pandemic.

Infections spiking

A spike of 7,099 confirmed infections in the last 24 hours brought Russia’s total to 106,498 cases and 1,073 deaths, according to the government’s daily coronavirus update.

With its number of cases increasing by several thousand each day, Russia is now the European country registering the most new infections.

But Russia’s coronavirus death rate remains relatively low and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the country’s actions had helped it avoid the catastrophic “Italian scenario”.

Russia’s success was down to “tough self-isolation decisions” and government measures “which convinced people to stay at home”, Peskov told the RTVI television channel.

He also said Russia had quickly and efficiently increased the number of available hospital beds.

The virus has spread to all 85 regions of the country, with Moscow the epicentre with around half the total cases.

Russia has the eighth highest number of virus cases in the world after recently surpassing Iran and China, according to an AFP tally.

The country has carried out nearly 3.5 million virus tests, health officials said, and is ranked 19th in the world for the number of coronavirus deaths.

Situation ‘very difficult’

Medics in Russia have complained of shortages of protective equipment and testing kits, and hospital staff are becoming increasingly concerned with deaths in the medical community.

Trade union representatives and medics have told AFP that the problem is particularly severe outside of Moscow where staff are at an even greater risk of infection.

The Kremlin this week extended until May 11 a “non-working” period when Russians would stay at home but still receive their salaries as part of sweeping efforts to contain the virus.

Yet the measure has brought uncertainty to the economy, with business owners struggling to pay full salaries to employees while shutting their doors to customers.

The government has been phasing in anti-crisis measures, such as loan payment deferrals or cheap loans, but there is concern that Russians are unable to access the support.

Despite the steady increase in cases, Putin said that Russia may begin to gradually lift different quarantine regimes throughout the country from mid-May.

Mishustin on Wednesday extended a ban on entry for foreigners into the country, which had been due to expire Thursday, until “the fight against the infection is over and the epidemic situation has improved”.

The pandemic has thwarted several major political events for the Kremlin this year, with Putin postponing a massive military parade on May 9 commemorating the 75th anniversary of victory in World War II. Many world leaders had been due to attend.

The Kremlin also postponed an April 22 vote on landmark constitutional reforms, which would have paved the way for Putin, 67, to potentially stay in power until 2036.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)

30, April 2020

Biya regime confirms BIR commander killed during military operation in Mamfe ⁰

Frédéric Nguiema Nzie a Sub-Lieutenant of the French Cameroun army recently assigned to head an operation with the Rapid Intervention Battalion (RIB) has been killed by Ambazonia Restoration Forces in Mamfe, the chief town in the Manyu County.

Sub-Lieutenant Frédéric Jeunesse Nguiema Nzie, enlisted in the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), and deployed as part of the 6^th Division died on April 28, 2020 during an operation around the residence of the Senior Divisional Officer for Manyu.

French Cameroun media reported that he served the Biya regime only for four months and made what Yaoundé described as the supreme sacrifice.

The young soldier from La Republique du Cameroun was a laureate of the 37th badge of EMIA named after Major General Jacob KODJI who including 181 others graduated on January 24^th in a ceremony that was chaired by the French Cameroun monarch Paul Biya. He hailed from Kribi in the Ocean constituency in French Cameroun.

Oke Akombi Ayukepi Akap in Glasgow with files from CIN

30, April 2020

More than 679,000 people have been displaced in Southern Cameroons ⁰

Armed groups are fighting for a separate state in English-speaking parts of Cameroon and government forces are hitting back with brute force.

Caught in the crossfire, civilians are trying to stay alive in a deadly conflict the world knows little about.

In 2016, as lawyers, students and teachers in the English-speaking parts of Cameroon began protesting what they saw as their cultural marginalisation and under-representation in the central government, security forces hit back.

Several armed separatist groups emerged and self-declared their independence from Cameroon on October 1, 2017, calling their new country “Ambazonia”. Members of armed groups are known to locals as “the boys”.

Since then, atrocities have been committed by both sides and the escalating conflict has forced more than 730,000 people to flee. Many have been killed, tortured, raped, assaulted and kidnapped. Those who manage to survive watched helplessly as their villages burned to the ground and their children were left with no access to school.

Because of fears of repercussions if caught speaking out, the voices of those affected are rarely heard. In addition, there is limited access available for independent journalists to report on the crisis.

The lack of international attention, support and diplomacy have left Cameroon a neglected crisis with no end in sight for more than one million people in need.

'I want to ask them: 'You guys, you are fighting for separation, but instead you demand money from your brothers? How will we all live together in a new country when you do this?'.' said Kelly. [Ingebjorg Karstad/NRC] — ‘I want to ask them: ‘You guys, you are fighting for separation, but instead you demand money from your brothers? How will we all live together in a new country when you do this?’.’ said Kelly. **INGEBJORG KARSTAD/NRC**

Heavily pregnant Alliance went into labour and gave birth to twins during the violence. 'I asked God: How could you give me twins in these times of conflict?' I did not know I could live like this, even for a week,' the 36-year-old said. She was not able to breastfeed at night with the lights on as that would be dangerous as warring parties were fighting outside. [Ingebjorg Karstad/NRC] — Heavily pregnant Alliance went into labour and gave birth to twins during the violence. ‘I asked God: How could you give me twins in these times of conflict?’ I did not know I could live like this, even for a week,’ the 36-year-old said. She was not able to breastfeed at night with the lights on as that would be dangerous as warring parties were fighting outside. **INGEBJORG KARSTAD/NRC**

'When we fled I managed to bring with me some mesh and hair extensions. I thought it would be useful so I could work in Bamenda as well. But when we arrived here we had nothing to protect us from the cold concrete floors, so I had to use them for my twins to sleep on. They were damaged by baby pee,' Alliance said. [Ingebjorg Karstad/NRC] — ‘When we fled I managed to bring with me some mesh and hair extensions. I thought it would be useful so I could work in Bamenda as well. But when we arrived here we had nothing to protect us from the cold concrete floors, so I had to use them for my twins to sleep on. They were damaged by baby pee,’ Alliance said. **INGEBJORG KARSTAD/NRC**

The scars of war are deep in Alliance's young children. 'When my children hear gunshots, they start to cry and run inside the house and they wet themselves. I lift them up and I carry them, I tell them it will be over soon,' she said. [Ingebjorg Karstad/NRC] — The scars of war are deep in Alliance’s young children. ‘When my children hear gunshots, they start to cry and run inside the house and they wet themselves. I lift them up and I carry them, I tell them it will be over soon,’ she said. **INGEBJORG KARSTAD/NRC**

It was May 2018 when 71-year-old Celine escaped her village with her bedridden son, her frail mother, daughter and her three grandchildren. 'On the day we fled, there were heavy clashes and people ran into the bush to hide from the shooting. I could not run with them. My son is bedridden. My mother is nearly 100 years old. I had to stay behind. The army entered our house and asked me: 'Why are you still here?'. I showed them my son and my mother.' [Ingebjorg Karstad/NRC] — It was May 2018 when 71-year-old Celine escaped her village with her bedridden son, her frail mother, daughter and her three grandchildren. ‘On the day we fled, there were heavy clashes and people ran into the bush to hide from the shooting. I could not run with them. My son is bedridden. My mother is nearly 100 years old. I had to stay behind. The army entered our house and asked me: ‘Why are you still here?’. I showed them my son and my mother.’ **INGEBJORG KARSTAD/NRC**

Two years ago, life changed forever for 28-year-old Alpha when the conflict reached her village of Belo and took the life of her husband. 'One day the shooting got really close and our neighbours told us to quickly lock the house and hide. We did, but men in khakis broke in and dragged my husband out of the house and took him away. My kids and I ran for our lives. The next day someone found my husband dead along the roadside and asked us to come and collect him. When we dared to go back to the house, we found it burnt down to the ground. We lost everything. All our ID cards. Everything.' [Ingebjorg Karstad/NRC] — Two years ago, life changed forever for 28-year-old Alpha when the conflict reached her village of Belo and took the life of her husband. ‘One day the shooting got really close and our neighbours told us to quickly lock the house and hide. We did, but men in khakis broke in and dragged my husband out of the house and took him away. My kids and I ran for our lives. The next day someone found my husband dead along the roadside and asked us to come and collect him. When we dared to go back to the house, we found it burnt down to the ground. We lost everything. All our ID cards. Everything.’ **INGEBJORG KARSTAD/NRC**

Family members Carine, Happiness and Larissa are making the local speciality 'puff-puffs'. The women will sell these at the local market to get some income for the full family of 15 persons. After being displaced by violence, they all share one room that they rent in Bamenda. 'They killed nine people in the market square that morning we fled. I managed to bring with me a bucket of tomatoes and crayfish that I sold the next morning to get some money. I also brought some clothes, our IDs and my family photos. The military burned down our house and my shop,' Happiness said. [Ingebjorg Karstad/NRC] — Family members Carine, Happiness and Larissa are making the local speciality ‘puff-puffs’. The women will sell these at the local market to get some income for the full family of 15 persons. After being displaced by violence, they all share one room that they rent in Bamenda. ‘They killed nine people in the market square that morning we fled. I managed to bring with me a bucket of tomatoes and crayfish that I sold the next morning to get some money. I also brought some clothes, our IDs and my family photos. The military burned down our house and my shop,’ Happiness said. **INGEBJORG KARSTAD/NRC**

'Life is not going anywhere,' says Glory, 28. She fled intense fighting in Ndu in January last year with her four children, her younger brother and her husband. With the daily shootings and burning of houses, life was no longer bearable in her village. As far as she knows, their house is still among those standing, but it is too unsafe to go back. So they rent a room in Bamenda with seven family members sharing one mattress. Back in the village, Glory used to roast fish and sell it along the road. Her husband worked as a driver. With barely any income, she finds it difficult to start up a business again. Most of the money they earn goes to rent and food, and most days, they go to bed hungry. School fees are too high to be able to afford them. 'It is really very difficult here,' she said. [Ingebjorg Karstad/NRC] — ‘Life is not going anywhere,’ says Glory, 28. She fled intense fighting in Ndu in January last year with her four children, her younger brother and her husband. With the daily shootings and burning of houses, life was no longer bearable in her village. As far as she knows, their house is still among those standing, but it is too unsafe to go back. So they rent a room in Bamenda with seven family members sharing one mattress. Back in the village, Glory used to roast fish and sell it along the road. Her husband worked as a driver. With barely any income, she finds it difficult to start up a business again. Most of the money they earn goes to rent and food, and most days, they go to bed hungry. School fees are too high to be able to afford them. ‘It is really very difficult here,’ she said. **INGEBJORG KARSTAD/NRC**

The road leading from the small airport outside Bamenda into the city has been the site of intense fighting and the area is mostly abandoned. Burned-out cars and destroyed houses are peppered everywhere. In the two English-speaking regions, more than 250 villages have been burned down and are now fully or partially deserted. [Ingebjorg Karstad/NRC] — The road leading from the small airport outside Bamenda into the city has been the site of intense fighting and the area is mostly abandoned. Burned-out cars and destroyed houses are peppered everywhere. In the two English-speaking regions, more than 250 villages have been burned down and are now fully or partially deserted. **INGEBJORG KARSTAD/NRC**

''The boys, sometimes they want money, sometimes they just want to kill those they suspect do not support their cause,' says Reverend Mokake in the Cameroon Baptist Convention in Bamenda. 'It has been a hard year. We lost five pastors the last years as a result of the escalation of the conflict.' [Ingebjorg Karstad/NRC] — ”The boys, sometimes they want money, sometimes they just want to kill those they suspect do not support their cause,’ says Reverend Mokake in the Cameroon Baptist Convention in Bamenda. ‘It has been a hard year. We lost five pastors the last years as a result of the escalation of the conflict.’ **INGEBJORG KARSTAD/NRC**

Source Aljazeera

30, April 2020

UK has second-highest Covid-19 death toll in Europe, new figures show ⁰

The United Kingdom now has Europe’s second-highest official death toll from the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to new figures on Wednesday that cover fatalities in all settings, including in nursing homes.

Some 26,097 people died after testing positive for the novel coronavirus as of April 28 at 1600 GMT, Public Health England (PHE) said. That means the United Kingdom has had more COVID-19 deaths than France and Spain have reported.

“These more complete data will give us a fuller and more up to date picture of deaths in England and will inform the government’s approach as we continue to protect the public,” Yvonne Doyle, medical director at PHE, said.

Although international comparisons are difficult, the new figures confirm Britain’s place among the European countries worst hit hardest by the pandemic.

Italy said on Wednesday that 27,682 people had died after testing positive for coronavirus. Like Britain, its figures are based on deaths following positive coronavirus tests, in all settings.

(REUTERS)

29, April 2020

US Vice President tours hospital without Covid-19 mask despite being told to wear one ⁰

US Vice President Mike Pence did not wear a face mask during a Tuesday visit to the Mayo Clinic, violating the prestigious medical center’s policy despite his team being warned in advance.

Video showed Pence visiting staff and a patient in a crowded hospital room without wearing a mask.

The Minnesota-based center’s policy states: “Part of our protocol for ensuring your safety is to require all patients, visitors and staff to wear a face covering or mask while at Mayo Clinic to guard against transmission of COVID-19.”

The clinic said in a statement that it had “shared the masking policy with the VP’s office.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently updated its advice to recommend that people wear cloth face coverings in public settings where it is difficult to maintain adequate physical distance at all times, such as in grocery stores and pharmacies.

This is because a very high proportion of people infected with the coronavirus are believed to be asymptomatic and because recent research has shown that it may in certain circumstances be possible to infect others through normal speaking and breathing.

Pence, President Donald Trump, and other senior White House officials have pointedly ignored the advice, leading to speculation it is a coordinated decision to downplay the severity of the crisis.

The vice president said he did not wear a mask because the CDC guidelines suggest that masks help prevent the spread of the virus by those who are infected — and he is not.

“Since I don’t have the coronavirus, I thought it’d be a good opportunity for me to be here, to be able to speak to these researchers, these incredible health care personnel, and look them in the eye and say thank you,” he said.

Source: AFP

29, April 2020

Covid, Corona and Lockdown: the newborns named after a pandemic ⁰

First there was Corona Kumar, then Covid Marie: parents have taken to naming newborns after the coronavirus, apparently unperturbed by the prospect of their children being forever associated with a deadly pandemic.

When Colline Tabesa gave birth to a healthy baby girl in the central Philippine city of Bacolod on April 13, she and the father John Tupas decided to mark the occasion with a show of gratitude.

“This COVID-19 has caused great suffering around the world,” said 23-year-old Tupas, expressing relief after the uneventful delivery.

“I wanted her name to remind us that COVID did not only bring us suffering. Despite all of this, a blessing came to us,” he added.

And so, Covid Marie it was.

Weeks earlier, two mothers in southeastern India had had similar ideas, apparently encouraged by a doctor in the hospital where their babies were delivered.

One was called Corona Kumar and the other Corona Kumari.

“I told them this would help create awareness about the disease and remove the stigma around it,” said S.F. Basha, the doctor.

“To my surprise, they agreed.”

Not to be outdone, a migrant-worker couple in India’s northeast stranded thousands of kilometres from their home in the desert state of Rajasthan decided to name their child Lockdown.

“We named him Lockdown remembering all the problems we had to face during this tough time,” local media reports quoted the father Sanjay Bauri as saying.

“She might experience bullying, but I’ll just teach my daughter to be a good person,” he said.

“We didn’t have second thoughts.”

Source: AFP

28, April 2020

Wife of disgraced French Cameroun Defense Minister rushed to hospital ⁰

The wife of a former French Cameroun Minister of Defence, Bernadette Mebe Ngo’o who has been in prison since the 11^th of March 2019 alongside her husband, Edgar Alain Mebo Ngo’o for complicity in a case of alleged embezzlement of public funds in the purchase of military equipment for the French Cameroun army, was rushed to intensive care on Saturday, 25^th of April 2020, at the Yaoundé Emergency Centre.

Bernadette Mebe Ngo’o was reportedly taken from her detention cell in Ward 5 of the Yaounde-Kondengui Central Prison and nothing has so far filtered about the woman who was prominent in French Cameroun some few years ago.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that Bernadette Minja Nkoulou (to use her name at birth) has suffered several minor heart attacks in recent months and has been abandoned by the ruling CPDM female mafia known as the Circle of Friends of Cameroun (CERAC), founded by the First Lady, Mrs. Chantal Biya.

By Asu Isong in London

28, April 2020

New York doctor who treated COVID-19 patients kills herself ⁰

A New York emergency doctor who treated coronavirus patients has killed herself, with family, police and physicians linking her death to trauma faced by health care workers battling the outbreak.

Lorna Breen, 49, died on Sunday from self-inflicted injuries in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she had been staying with her family, police said in a statement.

Breen ran the emergency department of New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital in Manhattan, a facility that has seen a huge influx of COVID-19 patients.

While it is not clear why she took her own life, her family, police and doctors suggested stress caused by the outbreak had contributed to her death.

“She tried to do her job and it killed her,” her father Philip Breen told The New York Times.

He said she had no history of mental illness and had contracted coronavirus herself before returning to work and then being sent home.

“Frontline healthcare professionals and first responders are not immune to the mental or physical effects of the current pandemic,” said Charlottesville police chief RaShall Brackney.

The president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, of which Breen was a member, said her death was a tragic reminder of the suffering that many health care workers are going through.

“The impossibility of the situation in many of our hospitals leaves us deeply wounded.

“I can only imagine for Dr. Breen it was more than she could bear — not out of weakness, but out of the strength of her compassion,” William Jaquis said in a statement on the group’s website.

The hospital where she worked described her as “a hero who brought the highest ideals of medicine to the challenging front lines of the emergency department.”

More than 17,300 people have died from COVID-19 across New York state, the epicenter of America’s outbreak.

Source: AFP

27, April 2020

3 officials kidnapped in Southern Cameroons ⁰

Three government officials were abducted Friday night in Boyo division of Northwest, one of the two troubled Anglophone regions of Cameroon, local authorities said Saturday.

A Court registrar of Boyo High Court, an official of election management body Elections Cameroon (Elecam), and a municipal councillor of ruling Cameroon’s People Democratic Movement (CPDM), were kidnapped by gunmen “as they were going about their normal activities”, according to security sources who asked not to be named.

Local police said a search and rescue mission of the hostages is underway.

Armed separatists have intensified attacks on officials who participated in Feb. 9 legislative and municipal elections in Cameroon, saying they disrespected their order to boycott the elections, according to media reports.

Since 2017, armed separatists have been fighting to create an independent nation in the two Anglophone regions of the largely French-speaking Cameroon.

Source: Xinhuanet