Chief Ephraim Inoni, one of the most commanding French Cameroun surrogate in Southern Cameroons and a Biya acolyte is now struggling to finish sentences, is not even aware that he is in Kondengui prison and even forgets his wife’s name.  The so-called Patriarch of Bakingili is reportedly a much-diminished ruling CPDM figure created by the progressive effects of dementia and an undisclosed form of cancer.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that the former prime minister first started to show signs of mental deterioration two years ago, when he confused facts during a private conversation with a journalist from the USA. During the said interview he also struggled with his words and his memory.

The man who was top in those days is now seeing his memory failing badly, and his ability to understand and interact with other CPDM barons in the Kondengui prison is fading.

We understand some South West Chiefs have written a memo to President Biya via Prime Minister Dion Ngute pleading with the French Cameroun dictator to allow Mr. Inoni to go abroad for treatment. Mola Inoni can no longer lead conversations with other inmates in detention, can hardly remember the beginning of a sentence by the time he gets to the end and  often forgets the death of his first wife.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Intelligence Report sources in Yaoundé have revealed that scores of Southern Cameroons detainees have lost their lives since 2017 after being exposed to various forms of brutal torture at the hands of their French Cameroun interrogators in prisons and detention centers all over La Republique du Cameroun.

Ambazonia Vice President Dabney Yerima said in a recent report before a trip to Switzerland that French Cameroun prison officials use various methods of torture, both physically and psychologically, against Ambazonia detainees. “They have been humiliating their personality and pressuring them to speak low of the Southern Cameroons diaspora” Comrade Yerima said.

The Southern Cameroons Vice President also pointed to the case of Ambazonia detainees killed during the Kondengui Prison Revolt by French Cameroun troops loyal to the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime.

French Cameroun warfare-trained infantry forces known as the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) reportedly killed many Southern Cameroons prisoners in Douala New Bell after torturing them. Southern Cameroons detainees were was also badly tortured in the Buea Prison and many were transferred to Tcholeri, where some passed away.

Two Southern Cameroons detainees died shortly after they were severely beaten by French Cameroun soldiers at Mbouda in the West region.

Our chief intelligence officer in Yaoundé leading an independent investigation has highlighted that the concept of torture is not limited to the use of violence against Southern Cameroons detainees during their arrest and interrogation, but all the appalling procedures that they go through inside French Cameroun detention centers fall within the framework of torture.

The most notorious of these methods include solitary confinement that is constantly being used on the Ambazonia leader, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides and detention of Southern Cameroons detainees in harsh and compelling conditions that do not meet the minimum health standards.

French Cameroun physical torture against Ambazonia detainees from the very first moment of their arrest, beating them on different parts of their bodies, without any consideration to the injury of some detainees has resulted in severe injuries, which has caused amputations and diseases that accompanied the prisoners even after some were release.

Sleep deprivation through continuous interrogation sessions of up to 12 hours, restricting the detainees during their interrogation, tightening restrictions to prevent blood circulation from reaching their hands, beatings, slapping, kicking, verbal abuse, intentional humiliation, as well as threats to arrest a family member, threats of sexual assault, denial of toilet use, denial of bathing or changing clothes for days or weeks, exposure to extreme heat, constant noise and verbal abuse are among other methods of torture use by the French Cameroun prison apparatus.

More than 2,000 Southern Cameroonians are reportedly held in La Republique du Cameroun jails. Hundreds of the inmates have apparently been incarcerated under the practice of administrative detention, a policy under which Ambazonian inmates are kept in French Cameroun detention facilities without trial or charge. Some Southern Cameroons prisoners have been held in administrative detention for up to three years.

By Sama Ernest and Rita Akana in Yaounde

The Ambazonia leader President Sisiku AyukTabe says Ambazonia Restoration Forces should continue the Self-Defense against French Cameroun occupation of Southern Cameroons land until complete separation and independence is gotten from La Republique du Cameroun.

President Sisiku AyukTabe made the comments in a soul-searching conversation with our correspondent in Yaounde during which he also appealed to Southern Cameroonians in the diaspora not to abandon Ambazonia refugees in LRC & Nigeria, IDPs within the homeland and those living in the bushes.

Hundreds of Ambazonian Self-Defense Forces, the defence wing of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government recently took part in October 1 celebrations throughout the territory.

The Ambazonia leader noted that the Federal Republic of Ambazonia came into the union with La Republique du Cameroun with special status and pointed out that there was no need for a “new special status after 58 years.”

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe observed that Southern Cameroonians have always been oppressed, but after just three years of the resistance Ambazonia is now a cornerstone and front to be reckoned with in the equations of war. He added that the massive deployment of French Cameroun army soldiers to Southern Cameroons and the failed so-called Grand National Dialogue represents the vigor of the Ambazonia Self-Defense Forces, the resistance, and the steadfastness of the Ambazonian people.

He challenged Southern Cameroonians who feel proud and confident of their participation at Mr Biya’s MND to each take a copy of the resolutions to their respective villages; invite their people to the village square, read aloud the resolutions, get the applause of the people. Anyone who cannot accomplish this simple fit, must consider himself/herself a let down to his/her people. Who do you represent, if you cannot face your people with the resolutions? He asked.

President Sisiku AyukTabe further hailed Ambazonians in the diaspora, the locomotive of the restoration train as he refers to them, who are working hard and helping to improve Southern Cameroons capability to deter any threat posed by La Republique du Cameroun. He stressed that despite the atrocities of the French Cameroun government military, Southern Cameroonians in Ground Zero are imposing new facts, breaking old theories, and will remain steadfast.

The leader also denounced fake news circulating on social media on talks with the French Cameroun opposition group headed by Prof Maurice Kamto. He called on Southern Cameroonians to be more vigilant and place a watchful eye on people who are trying to use the Southern Cameroons war of independence for their self aggrandizement.

“The worst thing we face today in the Ambazonia war of independence is the belief held by some that they must lead and in so doing they must slander anyone with a different approach and different opinion” he added. Sisiku Ayuk Tabe also called for unity among all Ambazonia factions to defend the Southern Cameroons cause.

Southern Cameroons has been under French Cameroun military onslaught since 2017, which has caused a decline in living standards and claimed the lives of some 4000 Ambazonians.

By Chi Prudence Asong and Asu Isong in London

A coalition of black immigration rights organizations are demanding to know more about the circumstances under which a 37-year-old man from Cameroon died Tuesday in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

Cameroonian immigrant Nebane Abienwi died Tueday after undergoing treatment for a brain hemorrhage at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center. He had been detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego since Sept. 19, according to ICE.

“We demand to know the circumstances under which Nebane lost his life,” read a statement from the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, a group advocating for immigrant rights, and specifically raising awareness about issues facing black immigrants.

An ICE news release said Abienwi was rushed to the Sharp Chula Vista emergency room on Sept. 26 “after experiencing a hypertensive event in the middle of the night.”

“ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of this incident, as it does in all such cases,” said a Wednesday statement from ICE about Abienwi’s death.

The groups calling on ICE for more answers include the Cameroon American Council; Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans; the Black Alliance for Just Immigration; the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project; the Black Immigrant Collective; the African Public Affairs Committee and others.

Geneviéve Jones-Wright is the legal director for the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, “a research, community organizing, and public policy hub dedicated to advancing the full economic, social, and civic inclusion of refugees and Muslims in the region.”

“We believe his death would not have occurred had he not been detained,” said Jones-Wright, who added the group wants to get more information about what led to Abienwi’s medical emergency.

“What was the incident that gave way to him having a brain hemorrhage?” she questioned.

Jones-Wright said the Otay Mesa Detention Center has a history of instances of abuse, and that Cameroonians, in particular, face hostility and physical abuse in immigration detention.

In response to calls for more information from the Black Alliance for Just Immigration on Friday, ICE referred to the agency’s previous statement from Wednesday.

“We have no additional information,” ICE spokeswoman Paige Hughes wrote in an e-mail.

Abienwi applied for admission into the United States on Sept. 5 at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. In a news release, ICE said he did not have “proper entry documents” when he crossed on Sept. 5 through the port of entry, according to Department of Homeland Security records.

The group calling for reform said Abienwi should not have been detained in the first place.

“No one should be locked up for seeking safety and wanting a better life,” said the statement from the Black Alliance for Just Immigration.

“Black immigrants, in particular, report horrific experiences of anti-blackness, abuse, and harassment while in detention,” the group also said.

ICE does not confirm whether or not a person in their custody is seeking legal asylum. But Abienwi was likely an asylum seeker from a region of Cameroon gripped by ongoing violence, the group said.

In the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, conflict has erupted between the government and protesters over discrimination against farmers and English-speakers.

Amnesty International reported in June 2018 that armed separatists have killed military personnel, burned down schools and attacked teachers, while security forces have destroyed villages, tortured children and fired on crowds of protesters.

“People in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions are in the grip of a deadly cycle of violence. Security forces have indiscriminately killed, arrested and tortured people during military operations which have also displaced thousands of civilians,” said Samira Daoud, Amnesty International West and Central Africa Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns.

Over the past couple years, Mexico has seen an increase in asylum seekers from Cameroon and other African countries, according to their federal immigration data.

The number of Cameroonian asylum seekers to Mexico increased from 23 in 2016 to 105 in 2017 to 274 during just the first half of 2019, according to the data.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the number of Cameroonians applying for asylum to the U.S. has also increased from about 600 in 2012 to more than 1,300 in 2016, the latest numbers available.

An ICE news release said Abienwi received comprehensive medical care while he was in custody.

Physicians at Sharp Chula Vista provided treatment to Abienwi, who was non-responsive to questions. He appeared paralyzed on his left side and remained in the hospital until he passed away Tuesday, according to ICE.

Sharp Chula Vista medical staff pronounced Abienwi dead on Oct. 1. His next of kin and the Consulate General of Cameroon were notified of his death. The agency did not say whether or not Abienwi’s family was notified of his hospitalization.

The group of immigrant rights organizations said they condemned Abienwi’s death in ICE custody and “the human rights abuses in Cameroon that made Nebane flee.”

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution this summer calling on the government of Cameroon and the separatist groups “to respect the human rights of all Cameroonian citizens, to end all violence, and to pursue an inclusive dialogue to resolve the conflict in the Northwest and Southwest regions.”

The resolution has not yet been passed by the Senate.

There will be a vigil in Washington, D.C. on Monday at ICE headquarters for Abienwi and other Cameroonians and allies, the group said.

Source: The San Diego Union Tribune

The Ambazonia Self Defence Council has denied any links with the so-called five ex-Ambazonia commanders who presented themselves in Yaoundé during the Grand National Dialogue forum stating that they are fake.

In a strongly worded statement issued today, the Ambazonia Self Defence Council informed Southern Cameroonians and the International Community that pictures and videos of alleged Ambazonia Restoration Generals attending the Yaounde peace talks were plain fiction.

“No Ambazonia General or Commander is attending the CPDM Convention dubiously called ‘National Dialogue”. What you are seeing is another effort and an attempt to manipulate and deceive our people and the International Community…” Part of the release reads.

The Ambazonia Self Defense Council further reiterated their position vis-à-vis the Biya Francophone teleguided talks observing that  “Any call for Dialogue without the release of Ambazonians held in LRC jail are not accepted to us…The Ambazonia leader Sisiku Ayuk Tabe Julius and the Nera ten are the legitimate representatives of the Ambazonia people in any dialogue with LRC. They and all illegally held Ambazonians…must be released unconditionally prior to any talks.”

On the fourth day of the talks, five alleged Ambazonia Generals presented themselves to the Francophone dominated atelier and revealed that they have decided to drop their weapons in favour of peace.

Source: Journal du Cameroun

Cameroon’s president is freeing more than 300 separatist fighters from the country’s Anglophone regions in a bid to calm a conflict that has killed nearly 3,000 people in the past two years.

An order signed Thursday by the presidency’s secretary-general says President Paul Biya made the decision to help ensure that peace returns to the country’s Southwest and Northwest regions.

The order discontinues court proceedings against the separatist fighters but does not apply to their leaders. It says the fighters had been accused of misdemeanors.

Cameroon is holding a national dialogue this week to try to resolve the conflict but key separatist leaders refused to attend.

The fighting between the Anglophone separatists and the majority Francophone security forces has forced more than 500,000 people from their homes since 2017.

Source: AP

At least three people died and 16 others were seriously injured on Wednesday in a road accident in Cameroon’s commercial capital Douala, according to the local government.

The accident happened when a truck missed track and collided head-on with a bus that was carrying 25 people, according to the sub-prefect of Douala IV sub-division, Jean-Marc Ekoa.

“Three people died on the spot. Thanks to the timely intervention of our forces of law and order, those who were injured were quickly rushed to the hospital. They are responding to treatment.” Ekoa said.

Police feared the death toll might increase because some of the injuries “are very serious”.

Formal inquiries have been opened to determine the exact cause of the accident, according to Ekoa.

Traffic accidents in Cameroon are mostly caused by overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving, according to security reports.

A recent official report by Cameroon’s Ministry of Transport said more than 1,000 deaths take place annually in Cameroon due to road accidents.

Source: Xinhuanet