News

Amnesty jabs Cameroon govt: Military trial of civilians ‘horrifying’

22, February 2019

Amnesty jabs Cameroon govt: Military trial of civilians ‘horrifying’ 0

International Rights group, Amnesty International, AI, have described the insurrection charge slapped on Cameroon opposition chief as horrifying, accusing Yaounde of being less tolerant of criticism.

In a statement issued today (February 21), AI stressed that it was a clear violation of basic human rights to continue putting civilians before military courts.

Kamto appeared before the Yaounde court today, his second appearance since he was arrested in late January 2019. Reports indicate that the case has been adjourned till February 26.

“It is horrifying that the Cameroonian authorities are considering sentencing Maurice Kamto to death simply for daring to participate in a peaceful protest.

“He is one of many people who have been caught up in a wave of mass arrests as authorities attempt to silence their critics,” said Marie-Evelyne Petrus Barry, Amnesty International’s West and Central Africa regional director.

“As well as having their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly crushed, many of Cameroon’s opposition members are now facing unfair trials by military courts.

“We are calling on authorities to end this ruthless assault on dissenting voices. Civilians should not be tried by military courts and should not face the death penalty for exercising their human rights,” she stressed.

International and regional human rights bodies including the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights consider that military courts should not, in any circumstances whatsoever, have jurisdiction over civilians. This is also recognized in the Principles of fair trial in Africa.

Africa News

Southern Cameroons War: Manyu mourns field commander killed by “friendly fire”

21, February 2019

Southern Cameroons War: Manyu mourns field commander killed by “friendly fire” 0

The Manyu Ghost Warriors’ media relations released a statement late on Wednesday mourning the death of one of their field commanders that was recently killed by friendly fire.

According to Manyu Ghost Warriors’ media wing, their field commander, General Shina Rambo, recently died after sustaining life-threatening wounds from gunshots fired by a serviceman in his regiment.

The Manyu Self-Defense group loyal to the Southern Cameroons Interim Government did not specify what led to the incident that Shina Rambo sustained these wounds, nor did they mention which area he was deployed at before his death.

Below is the full text made public via the Manyu Global Voice

Beloved brothers and sisters of Manyu:

This is a sad day for us as a people. We have lost one of our bravest warriors.

It is with a heavy heart that I announce that General Shina Rambo is no more! Rambo died today, February 20th, 2019, from injuries he sustained from gunshots fired by one of our own in GZ. Details will be brought to you as soon as investigations wrap up.

Kindly join me to convey our heartfelt sympathies to General Rambo’s grieving family and brothers in arms.

Shina will be buried with full Ambazonia/ASC/Manyu Ghost Warriors military honors.

A two-day mourning period has been declared. All unnecessary arguments on the Manyu Global Voice Forum have been suspended during this mourning period.

You shall await further announcements. All MUST abide by this directive. Thanks

RIP Rambo

Chairman

21, February 2019

Ambazonia Restoration attacks kill 2 in Littoral region 0

At least two people were killed in an attack blamed on Ambazonian Restoration Forces in Douala, the country’s economic metropolis. Cameroon government sources hinted that unidentified gunmen staged an attack late on Sunday in the locality of Mombo, (Littoral) bordering the Southwest region.

“Two people were killed in a shooting incident in the night on Sunday in Mombo. The attack was perpetrated by gunmen who came on board motorcycles from the Southwest region “said Samuel Ivaha Diboua, governor of the Littoral region in French Cameroun.

The governor further noted that a massive response from the defense and security forces sent the armed Ambazonia fighters away from the region.

Cameroon Concord News understands this is the second Ambazonian attack inside French Cameroun’s Littoral territory. In July 2018, the gendarmerie post at Penda Mboko, near Mbanga came under attack from Ambazonian fighters.

On the 23rd of December 2018, Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces in the Northern Zone of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia attacked villages in the Bangourain district, bordering the northwest. More than 80 houses were burned during this attack.

Since the end of October 2016, at least 347,000 people have fled the violence in Southern Cameroons between defense forces and Ambazonia Restoration Forces. The number of Cameroon government forces killed in the fighting by Southern Cameroons Self-Defense groups remains unknown.

By Sama Ernest in Douala

20, February 2019

4 injured in major Swiss avalanche, no known deaths so far 0

A major avalanche has buried skiers on a busy slope of the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana, injuring four people, including one whose life is in danger, but there are no known fatalities so far, officials say.

Eight helicopters, 12 dogs, and more than 240 police, rescuers, and soldiers worked to find any more people enveloped in the snow as night fell.

“Rescuers arrived very quickly on the scene. They rescued four injured people, including one whose life is in danger, and three were injured more superficially,” Valais cantonal police commander Christian Varone told a news conference.

“Witnesses told us there could be more people buried under the snow, that is why we are pursuing the search with considerable means.”

He said the avalanche was 840 meters long and 100 meters wide, with 400 meters of heavy snow hitting the piste.

Frederic Favre, head of the Valais department of police and justice, said no one was known to have been killed.

Earlier, the Nouvelliste, a local newspaper, quoted the commune’s president Nicolas Feraud as saying 10 to 12 people were believed to be trapped.

The avalanche, in mid-afternoon, came after a week of warmer temperatures began melting heavy snow. But the Swiss Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research said the danger for the area had been only at level two on a scale of five on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Catherine Seppey said that an investigation had been opened. “There are two hypotheses. The first is that several skiers set off the avalanche. The second hypothesis is it was a spontaneous avalanche due to climatic conditions, and in that case it will be a question of determining responsibilities and problems of security,” she said.

The site of an avalanche is pictured in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on February 19, 2019. (Photo by Reuters)

Philippe Magistretti, president of the Crans-Montana ski lift company, told Reuters by telephone that army personnel who were in the resort had joined the rescue effort.

“The amount of snow is incredible, two meters deep and 300 meters long. It’s a spring avalanche, which is very compact,” the Nouvelliste quoted one unnamed rescue worker as saying. Rescue dogs had not found anyone during a first search, he added.

The avalanche coincided with school holidays in some cantons, including Geneva, as well as overseas. Britain’s Blackheath High School tweeted that all its students on a ski trip in the area were safe.

The resort is scheduled to host two World Cup women’s races this weekend.

Marius Robyr, in charge of organizing the races, was quoted in Tuesday’s Tribune de Geneve, before the avalanche, as saying there was 1 to 1.5 meters of snow on La Nationale ski piste. He said it was closed to tourists ahead of the practice sessions and downhill and combined races.

“Our only ‘enemy’ is the sun,” he said.

(Source: Reuters)

Southern Cameroons kidnap: 170 students freed

19, February 2019

Southern Cameroons kidnap: 170 students freed 0

Cameroonian students and school staff who were kidnapped on Saturday have been freed, the Bishop of Kumbo has told the BBC. A total of 176 people, mostly students, were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen at Saint Augustin’s College in Kumbo, in the North West region of Cameroon.

They were released on Sunday after negotiations. It is the largest school kidnapping in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions since separatist unrest began in 2017.

Human Rights Watch has accused rebel groups of being behind the kidnapping but they have not yet commented. They have said previous abductions were staged by the government to damage their reputation.

The gunmen entered the campus of Saint Augustine’s College Nso on Saturday morning and seized 170 students, two security guards, a teacher and three of his children, the Diocesan Director of Communications said in a statement.

Rev Elvis Nsaikila added that the authorities of the boarding school had requested parents and guardians to take their children back home as soon as possible as “the school has closed down”. The Bishop of Kumbo, Georges Nkuo, confirmed to BBC Afrique that the church officials had negotiated the release of the hostages on the condition that the school would shut.

“If the army had intervened, there would have been deaths,” he said. Saturday’s school attack was not the first in the restive Anglophone North West region.

A similar incident took place in November last year in the regional headquarter, Bamenda, where more than 80 people, including the principal, a teacher, a driver and 79 students, were kidnapped from the Presbyterian Secondary School Nkwen.

The abduction of the school children and staff marked an escalation of the two-year long crisis that has gripped the two English-speaking North West and South West regions.

Militias who want to create an independent state called Ambazonia, began to emerge in 2017 after security forces responded violently to protests calling for English to be used in classrooms and courtrooms in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions. The country is dominated by its French-speaking majority.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank estimates that around 10 armed separatist groups exist, gaining control of a “significant proportion of rural areas and main roads” in the North-West and South-West regions.

BBC

Boko Haram: 35,000 flee Nigeria for Cameroon

19, February 2019

Boko Haram: 35,000 flee Nigeria for Cameroon 0

No fewer than 35,000 Nigerians have  fled to Cameroon to become refugees in recent weeks following  the escalation of  the Boko Haram insurgency  in  the North-East, Médecins Sans Frontières  has  claimed.

MSF,  also  called Doctors Without Borders,  in a  statement  said the latest migration followed an increase in violence around  Rann in Borno State. According to the statement, many  of the Nigerian refugees in the  Cameroonian village  of  Goura urgently  need  food, shelter and water.

The MSF said it had launched an emergency response to take care of the refugees. The statement quoted MSF’s deputy programme manager for emergencies Dr Silas Moussa as saying, “They (refugees)  left on foot very early in the morning — women, children and elderly people.

“When they fled, they had to leave elderly and sick relatives behind. They brought along what possessions they could, but in Goura they have nothing to drink and nowhere to sleep. They have been left to fend for themselves.”

The statement added, “The refugees have been staying in a large, informal camp in Goura since late January. Most are sleeping in the open, even though it is sandstorm season and the temperature drops sharply at night.

“The uncertainty surrounding whether these refugees will be resettled or returned to Nigeria prevents humanitarian assistance from being as complete and effective as it should be.”

The Punch

Yaounde says information claiming death of army general is “fake”

18, February 2019

Yaounde says information claiming death of army general is “fake” 0

Cameroon army Thursday dismissed as “fake” claims from armed separatists that they have killed an army general in an ambush in Southwest, one of the two troubled English-speaking regions of the country.

“Information relating to the death of General Bouba is circulating at this moment. While finding this joke of very bad taste, I beg you to consider this information as fake,” Colonel Didier Badjeck, spokesman of the Cameroon army said in a statement.

Separatists claimed that the army general was killed when they ambushed his convoy on Feb. 8 but the government “has been hiding the information.”

The armed separatist forces want the two regions, North West and South West to secede from the majority French-speaking nation and form a new nation called “Ambazonia.” Clashes started in November 2017 and about 430,000 people have been displaced internally according to United Nations.

Xinhuanet

Bui County: Catholic school shut after kidnap drama

18, February 2019

Bui County: Catholic school shut after kidnap drama 0

The Roman Catholic Church has shut down one of its biggest boarding schools in Kumbo in the restive Northwest Cameroon after unidentified gunmen briefly kidnapped students and employees.

The gunmen stormed the campus of Saint Augustine’s College, Nso on Saturday and seized 170 students, two security guards, a teacher and three of his children, Fr Elvis Nsaikila, the Diocesan Director of Communications, said.

“The abductees were released in the afternoon of Sunday and conveyed back to the college campus in the evening,” Fr Nsaikila said, without disclosing who was behind the kidnap and whether the school paid any ransoms to the abductors.

However, the Sun newspaper reported that “only petrol money” was given to the kidnappers.

Parents and guardians

Fr Nsaikila said authorities of the boarding school had requested parents and guardians to take their children back home as soon as possible as “the school has closed down”.

The Kumbo school attack, just two days after a 10-day lockdown imposed on the region by separatist activists, was not the first in the restive English Northwest region. A similar incident took place in November last year in the regional headquarter, Bamenda, where more than 80 people, including the principal, a teacher, a driver and 79 students, were kidnapped from the Presbyterian Secondary School, Nkwen by suspected secessionists.

Saturday’s abduction marked an escalation of the over two-year long crisis that has gripped the two English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions.

Internally displaced

The crisis in the anglophone Cameroon started as an industrial strike by lawyers and teachers in 2016, but snowballed into an internal armed conflict in 2017 when separatists joined in and symbolically declared the independence of the state of Ambazonia. No country has recognised the self-declared state.

Though the majority of teachers’ unions called off their strike in February 2017, separatist activists have continued to pressure the local population to keep their children out of school, promising “to deal with” those seen in the institutions.

According to the latest Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), over 444,000 people have fled their homes and were currently internally displaced in the regions due to the violence.

In addition to the internally displaced, over 32,600 others have fled across the border and were registered as refugees in neighbouring Nigeria with many of them exposed to varied dangers, including risk of food insecurity, the report adds.

The East African

18, February 2019

France: Yellow Vests protesters march through Paris 0

Yellow Vests demonstrators took to the streets of Paris on Sunday to continue their months-long protest.

One of the leading figures of the Yellow Vests, Ingrid Levavasseur, was described as a “traitor” and booed by several demonstrators.

The protests are taking place for the 14th week in a row, despite the French government suspending tax hikes and announcing increases to the minimum wage.

Presstv

Financing the Southern Cameroons Interim Gov’t: Everything you need to know

17, February 2019

Financing the Southern Cameroons Interim Gov’t: Everything you need to know 0

What a way to start the week in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia – settling down to watch one of the major events of the Southern Cameroons revolution that affects your donations to the Interim Government.

In his presentation, the Secretary for Economy and Finance will make public the Interim government’s spending for the war in Southern Cameroons.

Here is an essential guide to readers of the Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report.

When is the Secretary’s Statement?

It is on Monday, 18 of February, at about 8 pm Amba Time on SCBC

Five things to watch for in Secretary Tabenyang Brado’s Statement

The presentation will be base on a rebuttal of the spurious and slanderous statements towards his integrity.

Focus will be on the Treasury, Bank accounts/ payment platforms signatories and access,

Financial Reports, Internal Audit, My Trip to Buea, Ethics Commission, Accountability/Transparency,

SCBC saga/payments,

APNC involvement and why President Sissiku Julius Ayuk Tabe spoke from jail

Who is Ambazonia Secretary for Economy and Finance?

Arguably, the third most powerful person in the Southern Cameroons government, behind  Communications Secretary, Chris Anu and Acting President Ikome Sako. He was appointed as Secretary for Economy and Finance by President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe

Is this the only Economy and Finance presentation that matters?

No. Many issues regarding the state of the Southern Cameroons revolution, as well as support for the county-by-county initiative.  Expect more on those in the coming weeks.

What are the big talking points?

The Tabenyang Brado presentation comes hot on the heels of a major crisis deep within the Interim Government during which Communications Secretary Chris Anu announced he was stepping down from his cabinet portfolio.

The Secretary for Economy and Finance needs to raise extra money somehow and tomorrow provides him that opportunity.

The Ambazonian Interim Government has committed to funding Ground Zero operations via the county-by-county initiative and the IG intends to help weaker counties.  Ministers have indicated it will be funded by the Southern Cameroons Diaspora, so all eyes are on the Secretary for Economy and Finance for a solution.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in London

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