Catholic bishops in Cameroon have raised alarm over the ongoing suffering of Cameroonians in the conflict-ridden Northwest and Southwest regions.

For eight years, separatists have been fighting to form a breakaway state named Ambazonia. It started with strikes by teachers and lawyers in the two regions demanding autonomy for the Anglosaxon education system and Common Law all practiced in the two regions. The government responded with lethal force, and what started as peaceful protests turned violent. Separatist groups emerged, declaring the independence of “Ambazonia”.

The government’s military crackdown led to an ongoing armed conflict. According to the International Crisis Group, at least 6000 people have been killed and more than a million forced from their homes.

Catholic bishops in the Central African country are now expressing discomfort with the war that has refused to abate, and which has caused so much pain and anguish to millions of people.

In “recent times, the anxieties of the vast majority of Cameroonians have been transformed into cries of despair at the misery they are living through and the degradation of our beautiful country, Cameroon. Our consciences as pastors and citizens cannot remain indifferent to these cries of distress. For from the north to the south, and from the east to the west of Cameroon, we are all brothers, “the clerics said in a communiqué that sanctioned their Annual Conference that took place in Buea, Southwest region from January 4 to January 11, 2025.

“The crisis in the northwest and southwest regions, as well as the unrest in the far north, is certainly being contained, but it still remains and continues to cause the loss of so many lives.”

“In the northwest region in particular, where reconstruction had begun, the violence continues with guerrilla groups wreaking havoc, sometimes even routing overwhelming military forces,” they said.

They complained about the ‘ghost town operations’ which usually took place every Monday, but now include Saturdays. These are days separatists have declared that no activities would take place in the two regions-an effort to assert their presence and control.

The bishops suggested that the continuing violence could be sustained by “people with entrenched economic interests” who might be getting “scandalously rich.”

“Yet, it’s clear that, as with any conflict, NOSO war is ruinous and destructive for a country. It continues to breed divisions and resentments, hatreds and settlings of scores,” the Bishops said.

Survivors of the war-many of whom have found refuge in safer French-speaking regions, have been telling gruesome stories of the pain they endured before escaping to safety.

Thelma Ayafor, 19, woke up on September 29, 2019 to terrifying news: her mother, Florence Ayafor, a prison warden, had been kidnapped, raped, tortured and then decapitated.

“We received a call from the guys who perpetrated the act. They sent a driver with the pullover my mother was putting on to come and give us, and told us that it would be the last souvenir of our mother, “she told Catholic World Report.

She said the kidnappers didn’t require any ransom.

“They wanted my mother’s blood,” Thelma said.

Fighting back stubborn tears, Thelma told CWR that the kidnappers sent them videos illustrating how her mother was killed, and described where the body and the decapitated head were dumped.

Thelma says she had to flee to the capital Yaoundé, because separatists have also been threatening her.

“It’s been five years since my mother was killed, but the pain is still there. And we have been living from hand to mouth; life has really been tough on us,” she said.

Clarise, 35, tells a similar story of pain, anguish and survival. In a 2020 raid in Kumbo in Cameroon’s Northwest region, the military set her home ablaze.

“It was about 1 a.m.I was sleeping with my twin kids, and then I heard gunshots. Before I could do anything, the house was on fire. I held the two children in my arms and went through the backdoor, but met a soldier-his gun pointed at me. I thought that was the end. Maybe he was moved by the sight of my babes. He motioned me to escape into the bush. I trekked for hours in the bush and finally got to the road and then took a cab to Bamenda, but Bamenda wasn’t quite safe either and so I took the bus to Yaounde.”

The twins, now six years old, were also a consequence of the war. Clarisse says in 2017, four masked men raped her, and the result was the pregnancy.

“So I don’t know, and probably will never know the biological father of these children,” she said.

“Some people advised me to abort the pregnancy, but I am Catholic. My religion teaches me that children are a gift from God .Although it was a very painful experience, I still thank God for giving me these children. They are my solace,” she told CWR.

The separatist conflict, which began in 2016, has its roots in Cameroon’s colonial history. Initially colonized by Germany after the 1884 Berlin Conference partitioned Africa, Cameroon was later divided between Britain and France following Germany’s defeat in World War I. France was allocated 80% of the territory (French Cameroon), while Britain administered the remaining 20% (British Southern Cameroons) as part of Nigeria.

In 1961, British Southern Cameroons joined French Cameroon to form a bilingual federal republic. However, in 1972, the country was transformed into a unitary state, leading to feelings of marginalization among the Anglophone regions (Northwest and Southwest).

Anglophones have since faced economic, cultural, and political exclusion, prompting calls for federalism or secession. It’s become a major threat to the unity of the Central African country. Besides the military response, the government also convened what it called a Major National Dialogue in 2019 in efforts to resolve the conflict.

The dialogue amongst other issues proposed the adoption of what it called “a special status” for the two English-speaking regions, the restoration of the House of Traditional Chiefs, the election of local governors, the immediate relaunch of certain airport and seaport projects in the two regions, and the rapid integration of ex-combatants into society.”

The Archbishop Emeritus of Bamenda, His Grace Cornelius Fontem Esua, told CWR that what the government organized in his view was a monologue.

“A dialogue was supposed to bring together the main protagonists of the war to the table. We, the Bishops of the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province (which covers the Northwest and Southwest Regions) had insisted that separatists both at home and abroad including imprisoned separatist leaders should be present. This was not done,” he said.

During their Annual Seminar in Buea, the Episcopal Conference of Cameroon reiterated the need for frank and sincere dialogue.

“Is it not time for the political class to sit down in humility and engage in calm dialogue, mindful of its responsibility to lead our people, our country, towards happiness, which requires justice, forgiveness, reconciliation?” they queried.

“True peace does not come from graveyards, but from reconciliation. The Church proclaims the gospel of peace and thus, invites her sons and daughters to dialogue as a contribution to peace,” they urged.

Source: World Catholic Report