News

6, December 2018

Douala Court Frees Anti-Biya Activists ⁰

A court in Douala has struck out charges against an opposition leader and 52 of his supporters who had been protesting against the re-election of 85-year old president Paul Biya.

Barrister Michelle Ndoki, leader of the Cameroun renaissance movement party, had been in detention since October.

The public prosecutor dropped the charges “on the instructions of the minister of justice”.

He said it was a relief that sometimes “things can go right but he added that the “trumped-up charges only illustrate that freedom generally, is still a problem in Cameroun”.

The 53 had been accused of “insurrection” and holding “illegal demonstrations that threatened to disrupt public order.

Meanwhile, the case against journalist Michel Biem tong – who was due to appear before a military court on charges of insulting the head of state, propagating false information and terrorism – has been adjourned until 2 January, 2019.

The director of the Hurinews site was arrested on 23 October after he was suspected of making WhatsApp recordings calling on Anglophone separatists to resist the government.

Biya who has been in power since 1982, won a seventh term with 71.3% of the vote on 7 October.

Source:AIT

6, December 2018

Cameroon Political Conflict: “We need peace and the UN intervention” ⁰

Last October, Paul Biya (86), the second longest serving president of Africa, won the elections in Cameroon with more than 70% of the votes. The octogenarian, who has been in power for 36 years, will continue in office at least seven more, despite the complaints of the opponent Maurice Kamto, who appealed the elections and unsuccessfully claimed their nullity.

THE CONFLICT IN AMBAZONIA

One of the most difficult scenarios for the president is the conflict with the self-proclaimed Republic of Ambazonia, in the West and English-speaking region, with three million people. Up to now, the president’s policy has been based, above all, on military actions in favor of the defense of a unitary and centralized state in Yaoundé, against the groups in favor of independence that denounce what they consider to be privileges of the French-speaking part. The conflict, which has its origins in the colonial division of the continent and the incorporation in 1961 of the former South Cameroon, occupied by the British, to Cameroon, of French exploitation, has caused the death of hundreds of people, including an American missionary killed in October, and the displacement of tens of thousands since 2016.

“WE NEED PEACE AND THE UN INTERVENTION”

Christians are not exempt from constant confrontations either. In fact, they have been the object of one of the last actions by the independence militias, which in early November kidnapped 80 students from the Presbyterian school in Bamenda. Although the students have been released, “we need peace and the UN intervention”, says a Methodist Christian in Cameroon, who has agreed to speak with Spanish news website Protestant Digital, preferring to keep his identity anonymous. “Many people die every day, homes and villages are burned, there are famished people and also those who take refuge in Nigeria. We do not have a voice in our country”, he adds.

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS

Up to 50 primary and secondary schools and Christian hospitals have been affected by the conflict, according to the secretary of communication and information of the Council of Protestant Churches of Cameroon, Gustav Ebai, who has lost four relatives in the clashes. The military has also kidnapped four churches to turn them into barracks. “The government of Ambazonia, which controls most of the Northwest and South west, has placed a group of soldiers in the school until the crisis is resolved”. “There are often shootings between different forces, and a stray bullet can kill a minor”, explains the Methodist believer. Because of this tension, the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC), published a statement last October, in the community bank holiday. “Given what the English-speaking community is going through at this time, we cannot have a celebration while many of God’s children are being killed, suffering or living as internal or external refugees”, says the text signed by the Reverend Fonki Samuel Forba, of the PCC. “The emphasis should be placed on supplying the Working Fund for the Mission, to allow the church to continue assisting our pastors and brothers displaced by the armed conflict that has brought pain and suffering to many”, the document adds.

CAMEROON RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY

53% of the population in Cameroon is considered Christian, according to the Joshua project. Of these, about 39% are Catholics, 22% Protestants and just over 33% belong to other denominations. The sources consulted explain that “Cameroon is a country of religious tolerance. There is freedom of worship. Most of the Christians in the country are Catholics, Presbyterian, Baptists and Evangelicals, but there are also Pentecostal groups that are growing”. In addition, “the main challenge is to meet, and this has made it difficult for the church to have a strong voice in the country”. According to Central African missionary of Assemblies of God in Cameroon, Adongo Augustin Atilas, “believers are not united and live much more the syncretism and its ritual practices, especially when there is a birth or during the mourning after a funeral”. Ethnic religions represent the third largest group of people in the country, with almost 22% of the population. The second group is Islam (24%), especially in the Northern part of the country, which lives in conflict because of the presence of Boko Haram and Fulani shepherds. “Muslims and Christians have no problem in Cameroon. They live well and sometimes can share views on Jesus, although it is a taboo for some Muslims. They can visit you at night to pray and study the Bible, but they will never go to church”, Atilas says.

POLITICAL INTERFERENCES

The increasing conflict in recent years has mainly generated two political reactions to the religious fact: indifference and suspicion, depending on the point of view from which one looks. “The government does not care about anything, it has no solution for the problems of the people, nor is it prepared to listen to the weeping of the masses”, explains the Christian Methodist. Atilas believes that “Christians in Cameroon are not free to express their beliefs and are threatened by the bad government of the country”. “We knew that there would be fraud in the elections since the beginning. Biya organized the vote, counted the ballots, registered them and proclaimed the results, despite being also a candidate. What can you expect?” Lately, politics has also become part of “the prominent churches” of the country. In fact, according to the Catholic newspaper La Croix, Episcopalian, Presbyterian and Catholic leaders, have created an alliance with representatives of the Muslim community to mediate in the conflict. It is estimated that about one hundred pastors of the PCC have fled from the southwest and Northwest regions, because of the conflict.

evangelicalfocus.com

5, December 2018

Report sheds light on extent of US military presence in Africa ⁰

A United States military briefing shows Washington runs 34 bases across Africa, contrary to the Pentagon’s insistence that it maintains a modest presence across the continent.

The 2018 briefing by the US African Command (AFRICOM)’s science adviser Peter E. Teil, titled Strategic Posture, was exposed by The Intercept in early December. The news website obtained the documents via the Freedom of Information Act.

The documents, the report said, offer “a unique window onto the sprawling network of US military outposts in Africa, including previously undisclosed or unconfirmed sites in hotspots like Libya, Niger, and Somalia.”

In the briefing, Teil presented a map of the US military’s constellation of the bases, which names 14 forward operating sites (FOSes) and cooperative security locations (CSLs) besides providing country-specific locales for 20 contingency locations.

‘Three theaters’

The website quoted Adam Moore, an assistant professor of geography at the University of California, as saying that the positioning of the bases suggested that the US military presence had been organized around three theaters throughout the continent.

“The Horn of Africa — Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya; Libya; and the Sahel — Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso,” said Moore, adding that the US only maintained one base in the south.

Lowdown

Djibouti is home to the “crown jewel” of the bases, Camp Lemonnier, the US hub for operations targeting Yemen and Somalia.
Libya is shown housing three unnamed and previously unreported contingency locations near its coastline, although President Donald Trump said last year that he saw no US military role there.
Cameroon accommodates two more contingency bases.
The 2018 map also notes the existence of a CSL in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena.
There are two contingency locations in neighboring Mali.
Tunisia hosts another contingency site.
Only one base lies in the far south of the continent: A CSL in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone.

“It is getting harder for the US military to plausibly claim that it has a ‘light footprint’ in Africa. In just the past five years, it has established what is perhaps the largest drone complex in the world in Djibouti — Chabelley — which is involved in wars on two continents, Yemen, and Somalia,” Moore said.

The expert also noted that the US was building an even larger drone base in the city of Agadez in central Niger.

Earlier in the year, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the AFRICOM commander, told the House Armed Services Committee, “US Africa Command’s posture plan is designed to secure strategic access to key locations on a continent characterized by vast distances and limited infrastructure.”

“Our posture network allows forward staging of forces to provide operational flexibility and timely response,” he added.

Source: Presstv

5, December 2018

Southern Cameroons War: IG says humanitarian crisis to deteriorate in 2019 ⁰

The Southern Cameroons Interim Government has warned Ambazonians in the Diaspora that the humanitarian crisis in the country, already the worst in Africa, will deteriorate as 2019 approaches, more than a year after the French Cameroun President-Dictator, launched an intense military campaign of helicopter strikes and ground attacks which are still ongoing.

Acting President Samuel Sako Ikome told Cameroon Intelligence Report that the food and medical assistance provided to Southern Cameroons refugees both in French Cameroun and in the Federal Republic of Nigeria by international organizations including the UN has been insignificant. The Ambazonian leader wondered aloud why the UN was maintaining a kind of silence of the lamb as regards to the genocide going on in Southern Cameroons particularly the massacres that took place in Nkambe and Bali.

French Cameroun troops deployed to Southern Cameroons to crush the Ambazonia revolution and to reinstall Francophone dominance in the territory have killed hundreds of innocent Southern Cameroons civilians. The aggression initially consisted of a scotch the earth policy, was later coupled with numerous curfews and destruction of towns and villages by Cameroon government forces.

In his ill-disguised attempts at deceiving the international community, President-Dictator Paul Biya recently signed a decree creating a National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee (NDDRC) for organizing, supervising and managing the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-fighters of Boko Haram and armed groups in Southern Cameroons willing to respond favourably to his so-called peace appeal by laying down their arms. The 85 year old also appointed a French Cameroun surrogate, former governor Fai Yengo Francis to head the commission.

In response, Ambazonia Self-Defence and Restoration Forces Council (ASC/RF), the command and control system prosecuting the war against French Cameroun rejected the so-called disarmament committee. Since the onset of the President Biya imposed war, the Ambazonian Restoration Forces with support from the Southern Cameroons Diaspora, has been defending the Southern Cameroons nation against the brutal aggression.

The war is estimated to have left some 4000 Southern Cameroonians dead and more than 437,000 caught in the crossfire. Hundreds of Ambazonians have fled their homes, according to UN data; many now trapped in the bush are now facing starvation.

More than a year into the war, Biya and French Cameroun have achieved neither of its objectives. Yaoundé wrongfully thought at the start of the invasion that the war would take no more than a couple of weeks. The situation has worsened in French Cameroun in recent days due to a broad economic collapse following a CAF decision to strip the Biya regime of the right to stage the 2019 African Nations Cup finals. CAF confirmed the unanimous decision after a meeting of its executive committee in Accra, Ghana.

In its recent report on Cameroon’s public expenditure management, the World Bank revealed that the institutional mechanisms to implement the program-budget approach launched in 2013 is still far from achieving expected results.

According to the report, since 2013, the Parliament has approved each year a program-centered 3-year budget for all departments. Each department develops its own programs (about 3) and sets objectives and indicators (two to three per program). However, World Bank said, most indicators are not suitable or operational.

Elsewhere in his comments to Cameroon Intelligence Report, Acting President Sako Ikome said the Interim Government was in an urgent need of financial donations to help the resistance and suffering Southern Cameroonians in 2019.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

4, December 2018

Ambazonia: ASC Council Rejects President Biya’s Decree Creating National Disarmament ⁰

On 30 November 2018, neigbouring La Republique du Cameroun’s (LRC) President Paul Biya signed a decree creating the “National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee (NDDRC) for organizing, supervising and managing the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-fighters of Boko Haram and armed groups in the North-West and South-West Regions willing to respond favourably to the Head of State’s peace appeal by laying down their arms.” In response, Ambazonia Self-Defence and Restoration Forces Council (ASC/RF), the command and control system prosecuting the war against LRC, issued the following statement:

President Paul Biya needs to stop further provocative actions and illegal administration of the territory of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. On 5 January 2018, the Government of la Republique du Cameroun and Nigeria illegally adopted His Excellency Sisiku AyukTabe, President of the Interim Government of Ambazonia-in-exile, plus 9 top cabinet members in Abuja and rendition them to Yaoundé where they remained incommunicado for over 10 months until recently with deteriorating health conditions. Prior to their arrest and rendition, on 30 November 2017, President Biya declared war against the Federal Republique of Ambazonia. During the intervening one year, soldiers, gendarmes and police loyal to President Biya have deliberately killed over 10,000 unarmed civilians, within the internationally recognized territory of Ambazonia. In addition, at least 10,000 college and university students including their lecturers have been illegally arrested and are currently tortured in deplorable prison conditions and underground secret chambers across the territory of LRC. Over 2000 Ambazonians are now maimed; scores of disabled seniors have been roasted to ashes in their homes, and tens publicly beheaded by LRC soldiers as a war tactic to scare Ambazonia to submission. In addition, over 500,000 citizens of Ambazonia are internally displaced. On top of that, close to 200,000 Ambazonians, especially mothers and girls have escaped to Nigeria for refuge. More so, at least 1000 homes have been burnt to ashes in some 140 villages across Ambazonia.
The signing of a decree creating NDDRC on the same day that the CAF Executive Committee, which met in Accra, withdrew the hosting of African Cup of Nations (AFCON) from la Republique du Cameroun further undermines international call for La Republique and Ambazonia to negotiate political settlement to end the war. The decree further makes a mockery of the international organizations including the AU, the UN and the EU, foreign governments including the US, the UK, Germany and France; and other interested parties like Amnesty International and International Crisis Group that have urged President Biya to release all those in arrested related to the war, demilitarize Ambazonia and negotiate a lasting solution with the Interim Government of Ambazonia based on the boundaries inherited at independence. Yet it is no surprise that this Committee is created in the middle of a war and without consultation with the Interim Government of Ambazonia and the conditions are not ripe. While the citizens of LRC may be bound by this decree, the extension of the decree to cover Ambazonia violates our territorial integrity, which is further war.

We know the spirit of the text and intention behind the decree. The decree is a two-faced machination of the government to pretend they are working to enforce peace and security while in fact they mean evil and this is well known to Ambazonians. The decree is a renewed effort by the Biya regime and its agents and ministries to stage a Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process using fake the “Amba boys of Minister Atanga Nji” who have been terrorizing Ambazonia citizens, conducting kidnappings and requesting ransoms as a means of deceiving the international community that our restoration forces are terrorist. And finally, the Biya regime hopes that if successful to film their fake Amba Boys dropping den guns and confessing verbally, they can deceive both the citizens of Ambazonia and the global community that the war is over; thus, finally nailing the coffin of the “Ambazonia Liberation War” once and for all.
We want to unequivocally state for the umpteenth times that the decree NDDRC and any action coming from it is baseless and inconsequential. Our President, H.E. Sisiku AyukTabe has categorically said times without numbers that we are out to restore our independence and not to destroy a country or bring pain on our citizens. He said anytime you hear a gunshot, and it is said to be coming from our restoration forces, you should know that it is fake as we do not use weapons or violent tactics against our citizens to achieve our goals. We have one enemy, LRC government military, gendarmes, police and her appointed administrators in our territory.
By this evil design, the restoration of the independence of Ambazonia sovereignty now gaining momentum, will be done away with finally. This is a multi-faceted scheme with involvement of agents at various levels and layers. Recently, the Biya government gave usual false hope promises about, inter alia, humanitarian support, road construction projects and construction of burnt homes as an indication of executive authority over the territory of Ambazonia, when he knows fully well, that the Ambazonia Liberation War has long crossed the red lines for federation and decentralization. By now, the Biya regime must know that the Ambazonia Liberation War crossed the orbit of negative return for the quest of sovereignty when Ambazonians shed the blood of freedom on Ambazonia soil. The Commander-in-Chief of Ambazonia Restoration Forces H.E. Sisiku AyukTabe said sovereignty of Ambazonia is nonnegotiable.
For two years now, especially since January 2018, we have been staging peaceful protest marches and sit-in home strikes to press across the globe our demand for the freedom of our revered President Sisiku AyukTabe, nine members of his cabinet and scores of others in detention since the crisis started in late 2016 and morphed into a war in November 2017. We have not for once resorted to the use of terror tactics. This is not about to change. We therefore reject any form of violence or use of terror tactics in our name.
The bait here is to initiate some very alarming disruption of public peace and terrorization of Ambazonia citizens and residents in the name of the “Amba Boys,” LRC sponsored criminal gangs and armed merchants, in order to reach their goals. This evil design of linguistic and foreigner cleansing in our name is plotted to be of a magnitude and proportions as to sufficiently frighten the public and international community so that they will avoid anything about Restoration Forces like ebola plague. In the thinking of the Biya regime, such inhumane and barbaric actions like the Pinyin and Bali massacre will swing public opinion against us and push Ambazonia citizens into another half a century of slavery and servitude under the dominant French Cameroun government. The plots by the security forces have thickened to carry out series of attacks of such a large scale and proportions similar to the dreaded terrorist group Boko Haram, starting from the course of our peaceful activities using their agents within. In that way, the Biya regime hope to associate the self-defence to protect our citizens and their property with violence, and from there, the security forces will take it from there and escalate it to the scale and scope they desire.

In conclusion, the Ambazonia Restoration Forces is not and should not be held responsible for any breech of peace or violence that will result from any false-flag plots. We will continue to employ all lawful, legal, defence and constitutional means as we have done throughout these two years of LRC-perpetrated terrorist activities to achieve our goals and would neither be coerced nor blackmailed into submission or surrender. Our escalating and timely self-defense activities will continue as planned and in our ways without fear of intimidation. Rather than take risk to conduct any activity in Ambazonia that will only escalate the war and thereby further shed innocent blood, the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council and Interim Government urge any person, who so ever and especially from the Biya regime, to stay clear Ambazonia territory until such time when conditions become conducive to visit or conduct business. Ambazonia vehemently rejects President Biya decree creating the “National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee;” our Restoration Forces remain on hair trigger alert and continue to defend our citizens and homeland against any illegal occupation and foreign invasion.

3, December 2018

Cameroon gov’t soldiers planting mines in Southern Cameroons ⁰

Our chief intelligence officer in the Northern Zone of Southern Cameroons has hinted that there are numerous mines laid everywhere on the way to Bali and towards Wum. A Francophone soldier was reportedly killed as he attempted planting a mine in Mfuni in Manyu.

Recently, four Ambazonian women were killed after stepping on a mine planted on the highway towards Batibo. Ambazonian commanders say Cameroon government soldiers have planted several anti-personnel mines in several Southern Cameroons districts in the last three months.

Engaged in long battles with Ambazonian Restoration Forces, the French Cameroun army has turned to landmines to block entry to areas where they operate. A Cameroon government army spokesperson in Bamenda, the chief city of the Northern Zone who confirmed the planting of new mines by Cameroon government army soldiers, said “Mines are only intended to cause harm to the Ambazonian fighters.”

The Southern Cameroons Interim Government through the Ambazonia Defense Council said in a statement that mines only kill or injure civilians – children, women and non-combatants. The Francophone dominated government in Yaounde import landmines and other weapons from European countries particularly France.

The Ambazonian Interim Government has identified the need for a public awareness campaign to inform people, particularly children, about the risks of mines planted by Francophone soldiers.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

2, December 2018

Nigerian police arrest 12 Cameroonian mercenaries in Cross River ⁰

TWELVE Cameroonian mercenaries were arrested by the police at the weekend while on their way to fight in the internecine communal conflict between the people of Usumutong and Ediba in Abi Local Government Area of Cross River State. The mercenaries were arrested on Tuesday at the Ediba/Ugep junction while allegedly traversing to the conflict zone with arms and dangerous weapons.

A source in the area said “they were caught on the way to Ediba to fight Usumutong people.” “They were armed with charms and other dangerous weapons of wars. They came in a red Sienna bus still parked at the Police Area Command Ugep. These people were hired by Ediba to terrorize Usumutong community,” he alleged.

The Clan Head of Usumutong, Oval Solomon Osim Edward who spoke to Saturday Vanguard on phone alleged that the twelve Cameroonian mercenaries were hired by Ediba people to eliminate his community. “They were arrested at a check point. They said they were asked to come and destroy plantation, they described us (Usumutong community) as plantation, these people are evil, they wrapped charms around their bodies”, he stated. But the Village Head of Ediba Uvara Imong Anani debunked the allegations, describing it as rubbish. “It is rubbish, since the beginning of this trouble, I have not been on my seat, Ediba people have not hired anybody, these are Cameroon boys, I don’t know them.”

www.vanguardngr.com

2, December 2018

Ambazonia Self-Defence Council (ASC) Upholds Ghost Towns Across the Ambazonia ⁰

On 30 November 2018, Mr. Chris Anu, Secretary of Communications and IT for the Ambazonia Interim Government-in-exile pronounced over ABC TV that “Ghost Towns” are suspended across Ambazonia territory. On 1 December 2018, the Secretary Chris clarified over ABC TV that the “Ghost Towns” is suspended from 3 December 2018 to 6 January 2019. In response, Ambazonia Self-Defence Council (ASC), the command and control system prosecuting the Ambazonia Liberation War, issues the following statement:

The Ambazonia Self-Defence Council (ASC) categorically rejects Secretary Chris Anu’s pronouncement suspending Ghost Towns. We are at war and we will continue to fight so long as forces and administrators of La Republique du Cameroun (LRC) remain present and continue to kill our citizens within our territory.
Popularly known as “Country Sundays”, Ghost Towns is a civil disobedience non-violent signature activity of the Ambazonia Liberation War. For two years now, we have been staging peaceful protest marches and sit-in home strikes to press across the globe to demand for the restoration of our statehood and freedom of our revered President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, nine members of his cabinet and scores of others in detention since the crisis started in late 2016.
We urge every person within Ambazonia to comply with civil disobedience non-violent Monday Ghost Towns obligations. The security threat level is higher now and your prompt compliance to instructions that are enforced by Restoration Forces is a choice between life and dead. Remain vigilant, strictly follow instructions, and stay safe.

2, December 2018

CAF Tsunami: Minister Issa Tchiroma reads malice in decision ⁰

The Cameroon government has taken note “with dismay” of the decision taken by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) executive committee stripping the country of the hosting rights of the 2019 African Cup of Nations, saying the country has been subjected to a treatment which can give rise to questioning.

“This surprising decision, for more than one reason, is certainly unfair with regard to the huge investments made by our country, which has led to outstanding modern infrastructures as witnessed by all,” communications minister and government spokesperson, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, said in a statement on Saturday.

The government spokesperson described the decision as “unmerited” saying President Paull Biya and the people of Cameroon resolved to make all-out effort to host a remarkable celebration of African football in 2019.

He called on the people of Cameroon to remain calm and not indulge into futile arguments “in the face of this blatant injustice” by the continental soccer body.

Issa Tchiroma said Cameroon has put in a creditable performance and shall prove it to the entire world by completing with the same determination and on time the construction of these modern infrastructures belonging to the Cameroonian people, as pledged by President Biya.

He said African football would not match the exploits of other better performing continents in the absence of an ethical conduct.

“Our country, which has written the pages of African football in bold letters, will not relent her efforts in working with other African countries and international football bodies to develop football in our beloved Africa,” the Cameroon government spokesman stated.

At the Caf extraordinary meeting in Accra on Friday, the confederation said Cameroon has not met with a number of compliance conditions to host the tournament.

It noted that there were gaps between the requirements of hosting the Afcon and realities on the ground. “Furthermore, after hearing the conclusions of the Caf Security Inspection Team during their most recent visit to Cameroon, Caf concludes that the Africa Cup of Nations could not be exposed to any issues that could impact on the success of the most prestigious African competition,” the Caf statement said.

Caf said it would initiate an open and urgent call for new hosts.

The withdrawal of the hosting rights from Cameroon is a big blow not only to football fans but also to President Biya who has repeatedly said the Central African country was going to be ready on D-day.

In most of his outings, especially at home within the last two years, the 85-year-old president, who has been in power for 36 years, has always talked about the Cameroon’s readiness to organize the Afcon 2019 showing his attachment to the competition.

Offering a reception to the “Indomitable Lionesses” who emerged vice champions of the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations in December 2016, president Biya said their success was going to encourage him to ensure that the scheduled organization of the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon in 2019 will be given the necessary back-up.

At a banquet in honour of some Cameroonian athletes who won medals in international competitions, President Paul Biya on August 10 last year maintained that Cameroon was going to be ready for the continental soccer showpiece, even under the new format of 24 teams.

Source: Daily Nation

1, December 2018

Biya orders reintegration process for ex-Boko Haram and Ambazonia fighters ⁰

President Paul Biya said on Friday that a committee has been created to disarm fighters of terror group Boko Haram and armed separatists and to help with their reintegration into civil life.

“The committee shall be responsible for organizing, supervising and managing the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-fighters of Boko Haram and armed groups in the Northwest and Southwest regions willing to response favorably to the Head of State’s peace appeal by laying down their arms.” Biya said in a statement that was released Friday evening.

According to the 85-year old president, the committee dubbed National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee (NDDRC) will take appropriate measures to collect and destroy weapons, munitions and explosives captured from the separatist and Boko Haram fighters.

The committee will provide the ex-fighters with better means of livelihood, he said.

“(The committee will) facilitate the reintegration of ex-fighters particularly by organizing, training and providing them with tools and means of production and assistance for the creation of income generating activities” Biya said.

Boko Haram has killed nearly 2,500 Cameroonians between 2014 and 2017, according to Cameroon’s defense ministry. On Wednesday, two Boko Haram suicide bombers detonated in a busy market in Amchide of the Cameroon’s Far North region, 29 people were injured, according to the national channel CRTV.

Fighting is still intense in two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest where more than 430,000 people have been displaced internally according to the United Nations. Armed separatists are seeking to secede from the Francophone-majority Cameroon and create a new Anglophone nation called “Ambazonia.”

In early November, Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration said “many” armed separatists have surrendered and asked to be reintegrated into society. Separatists said the minister’s declaration was “fake” and insisted those who surrendered were “not fighters.”

Xinhua