21, September 2019
“Attack on French Cameroun army convoy transporting General Tataw’s remains shows strength of resistance” 0
A senior commander of the Ambazonia Restoration Forces has said that the recent attacks on a military convoy that was transporting the remains of the late General James Tataw in Batibo and also that of Ayaba Hotel in Bamenda hosting a delegation headed by French Cameroun’s Minister of Interior Paul Atanga Nji bears witness to the strength of Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces.
Speaking late today in Bamenda during a memorial ceremony for a prominent Ambazonia fighter, the Southern Cameroons commander who did not identify himself during his presentation at Bali Road added that Yaoundé was trying to demonstrate that Southern Cameroonians who represent Francophone interest were more valuable than the Ambazonia blood spilled everyday by French Cameroun army soldiers.
The Southern Cameroons commander also warned the French Cameroun soldiers heading to Ossing village in Manyu that they were gambling on a failed Biya plan. He reiterated that Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces will never let French Cameroun army attacks go unanswered.
With new rules of engagement already being implemented by the Southern Cameroons Vice President Dabney Yerima and the growing strength of French Cameroun opposition against Biya, observers believe the Federal Republic of Ambazonia will soon become a reality and that Biya and his French Cameroun political elites are in a state of denial.
By Sama Ernest in Bamenda
23, September 2019
Russian seamen kidnapped off Cameroon freed 0
Moscow on Sunday said three Russian seamen abducted in an act of piracy off the coast of Cameroon in August have been freed and brought to Germany.
The Russians were part of a group of sailors, including Chinese and Ukrainian citizens, taken hostage in mid-August after an attack on their merchant ships in the Gulf of Guinea.
In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry said they were “released from pirate captivity” and that their health was “satisfactory”.
They are due to return to Russia on Monday, it added.
The attacks took place off the port of Douala, located at the northeastern corner of the Gulf of Guinea that has become a hotspot of seaborne crime.
The total number of hostages taken in the attack is unclear. The Cameroonian navy reported the kidnappings at the time but was unable to give the number of those taken.
The Gulf of Guinea, whose coastline stretches in a huge arc from Liberia to Gabon, is notorious for piracy as well as oil theft, illegal fishing and human and drugs trafficking.
In recent years, the seas off West Africa have become “the world’s worst for pirate attacks,” according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) watchdog.
Attacks doubled in the Gulf of Guinea in 2018 compared to the previous year — the bulk of them due to piracy, it said.
The 17 countries bordering the Gulf of Guinea and adjacent coastline have limited surveillance and maritime defence capabilities.
Source: AFP