22, December 2018
Biya regime Reopens Ekok Border with Nigeria 0
Cameroon has reopened its southwestern border with Nigeria after closing it about a year ago because of conflicts between Cameroon’s military and armed separatists fighting to create an English-speaking state.
A senior official from Cameroon’s military asks the people of Ekok village on the southwestern border with Nigeria to consider the soldiers as friends who are there to protect them.
Cameroon businessman Christopher Efiom, 46, buys food from Cameroon and takes it to Nigeria where it is sold. When he is returning from Nigeria, he buys spare motor parts and sells them in Cameroon. He says the presence of the military in the border market has chased fighters to the bushes and across the border to Nigeria. He says that for a month now, merchants have been able to do business despite ongoing fighting between the military and the separatists.
“There are days that the military goes down to attack the boys [fighters] and when they go down, there is serious gun shooting,” Efiom said. “So many casualties are on the field. The Amba fighters usually block us on the way and you can never predict when they are there. There are days that even the military are unable to carry the convoy right to Nigeria.”
“Amba” is the self-declared English-speaking region of Ambazonia, where armed separatists are fighting for independence.
Cameroon businessman Cletus Ndungang, 32, says although the military has reopened the border, business has yet to resume fully because most buyers and sellers still fear for their safety.
“Eighty percent of our rice is imported. It is very risky for a businessman to carry rice knowing that there is going to be a problem. Even maize. We also have oil, we have sugar. In fact, all the food, there is a problem because of this barbaric act. Most of the businessmen would not want to come in,” he said.
When Cameroon declared war on the armed separatists in November 2017, it said gunmen were attacking border localities in Cameroon’s southwest and escaping to Nigeria.
Nigeria denied the assailants were crossing over from its territory into Cameroon.
Bernard Okalia Bilai, governor of Cameroon’s southwest region, says collaboration between the Nigerian and Cameroon militaries is bringing peace to the border areas and business is resuming; but, he says, civilians who sought to escape the fighting should look to the military as their partners in working toward peace.
The separatist insurgency gained momentum in 2017 following a government crackdown on peaceful protests by Anglophones, who complain of being marginalized by the French-speaking majority. Some political leaders have called on President Paul Biya to initiate dialogue with the separatists. But Biya — who has ruled Cameroon for 36 years — has refused any talks on Cameroon becoming a divided state.
Culled from the VOA
22, December 2018
Yaounde Suspends 16 Journalists, 7 Media Outlets 0
Cameroon has suspended 16 journalists and seven news outlets for periods ranging from one month to six months for what it calls media offenses.
The National Communication Council suspended Vision 4, a privately-owned television station in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde, and two of its journalists for one month each. Ernest Obama was suspended for what the NCC said was the use of hate language that could have ignited tribal conflicts in Cameroon. Nadine Patricia Mengue was suspended for erroneously announcing the death of Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba during its primetime news program Oct. 25.
On Oct. 30, Gabon also suspended the station from broadcasting for six months on its territory after it again reported the death of Ondimba, who was said to be in hospital in Saudi Arabia suffering from exhaustion.
Gabon’s broadcasting authority said the incorrect and false report had undermined its national unity, social cohesion and public order.
Praise for suspensions
Journalist Melvis Kimbi of Cameroon state broadcaster CRTV says the sanction on Vision 4 was long overdue.
“This particular media house was spreading false information, an information of that magnitude which could have actually triggered a diplomatic crisis between Cameroon and Gabon, and there has been a lot going on on the Vision 4 media that has not been punished,” Kimbi said.
The NCC also suspended Maneh Mirelle of the TV station Canal 2 International for 6 months, Joseph Roland Djotie of Le Quotidien de L’Economie for one month, and Zebaze Benjamin for two months.
Dom Pipelassi Michael Doppas was suspended for two months for repeatedly reporting that Cameroon football star Samuel Eto’o is a homosexual.
Journalist Etienne Ngalle of La Nation newspaper says the NCC did a good job by suspending the media outlets and journalists who were highly unprofessional in doing their jobs.
He says he appreciates the NCC for suspending a journalist of the radio station Soleil FM who declared, without presenting any evidence, that Eto’o is a homosexual. Ngalle says journalists should stop spreading slander and telling lies intended to destroy public figures.
Previous action
Reporters Without Borders has accused Cameroon’s Communication Council of taking a tougher line toward journalists and media. But the recent sanctions have been hailed by some media professionals, especially as those sanctioned were asked to defend themselves in front of the NCC.
In 2017, the NCC suspended 35 journalists and media outlets, accusing them of failing to respect professional norms and ethics.
Cameroon has more than 500 newspapers, and 100 radio and TV stations, which express divergent views about the presidential election.
The Reporters Without Borders 2018 World Press Freedom Index ranks Cameroon 129 out of 180 countries in the world.
Source: VOA