The  UN  Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed’s  emergency meeting on the arrest of the Interim President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and 9 of his top aides in Nigeria showed Abuja “the world is watching” its actions.

Madam Amina Mohammed reportedly called the meeting during her recent trip to Nigeria after acknowledging that the UN was following closely the developments in Anglophone Cameroon. Nigerian President Buhari and members of his administration had privately praised the anti-Ambazonian action carried out by the DSS and had also settled down for an extradition.

But the UN and the African Bar Association and some other interested parties said Africa’s most powerful nation had no business weighing in on the crisis in Southern Cameroons. The leadership of the African Bar Association based in Lagos, Nigeria was quoted as saying that the Nigerian government should applaud the courage of Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and amplify their message portraying their struggle for self determination as a human rights issue that is spilling slowly but surely over into the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Nigerian elected representatives have complained openly that the Buhari administration was dragging a nation focused on domestic security issues into what they called a foreign matter. Nigerian foreign missions in several other countries have expressed reservations about whether it was right to detain the Ambazonian leaders.

Nigeria is aware that the UN charter empowers the Security Council to “investigate any dispute, or any situation which might lead to international friction,” and the lawyer representing the Ambazonian Interim Government is not alone in thinking the Abuja arrest qualified.

Our West Africa Bureau Chief, Kingsley Betek who contributed to this report said the Buhari administration says it is their responsibility … to assess whether the presence of the Interim Government leaders on Nigerian soil could become a threat to Abuja’s peace and security.

The UN boss was given assurances that Nigeria was designing a preventive measure to avoid further escalation of violence in Southern Cameroons.  Abuja is expected to publicly call on the Francophone dominated government in Yaoundé to set up a process to address any serious human rights violations and hold accountable anyone involved.

At least 755 people have been killed and hundreds arrested amid the anti- French Cameroun government protests and unrest. Up to 42,000 people have fled to Nigeria, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.  The outspoken governor of Cross River State has urged the Nigerian Federal Government to react carefully with all the vigilance required. A legal auditioning of the leaders is expected to begin soon.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The new US embassy in London has opened its doors to the public for the first time but President Donald Trump failed to attend its inauguration.  

Last week, Trump refused to attend the inauguration over fears he will be greeted with mass protests in the British capital where most of the citizens dislike him due to his divisive polices. He also denounced the new embassy as too expensive and poorly located.

Embassy staff streamed past heavily-armed police as the new building opened for business on Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was reportedly scheduled to open the embassy instead of Trump but he also did not attend the inauguration.

In a tweet, Trump criticized former US President Barack Obama for selling the previous embassy to a Qatari government investment fund which is planning to turn it into a luxury hotel, and building a new one.

“I am not a big fan of the Obama administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for ‘peanuts’, only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars,” Trump wrote last week.

“Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon – NO!” The decision to build and relocate the US embassy in London was made during the administration of former US President George W. Bush.

Trump’s plans to visit Britain have met resistance from some politicians and activists who disagree with his policies such as his actions on immigration and climate change.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who Trump has repeatedly criticized, had earlier tweeted that he was happy when Trump called off the proposed visit, saying the US president was not welcome in the city and “he’s finally got that message.”

Trump was expected to make his first trip to the UK since entering the White House and had originally been scheduled for a full State Visit including a Royal banquet at Buckingham Palace but this was later downgraded to a “stripped-down” trip that did not involve getting the full “red-carpet” treatment from the Queen.

More than a million people in Britain signed a petition last year calling for the state visit by the US president to be cancelled.

Source: Presstv

Protesters across the United States have staged more anti-racism rallies in response to President Donald Trump’s offensive remarks about immigrants, whom he reportedly berated of coming from “sh*thole countries” like Haiti and South Africa.

In Palm Beach, Florida, Haitian activists showed up in large numbers at the Southern Boulevard bridge on Monday to confront Trump as his motorcade passed through the streets after leaving his luxurious Mar-a-Lago resort for the airport.

“What brings us out today is the statement he made,” said Charlemagne Metayer, a Haitian-born American citizen who moved to the US in 1985.

“Some of us work two or three jobs to make a living,” said Metayer, a father of four. “We are hard working people. We deserve an apology from the president.”

Trump’s supporters tried to counter the protest by gathering on the side of the street. There was heavy police presence at the scene to prevent violent clashes.

On Thursday, Senator Dick Durbin and several other Democratic lawmakers who had attended a White House meeting on immigration maintained that the president used disparaging remarks to refer to a number of nations during the bipartisan session.

The meeting was about reaching a deal over Trump’s border wall with Mexico in exchange for saving DACA, a program that protected some 800,000 child immigrants.

Before leaving Mar-A-Lago, Trump wrote in a tweet that his comments were “totally misrepresented” by the Democrats.

The explanations, however, were not enough to stop protests in his hometown of New York City, as angry protesters packed into Judson Memorial Church, near Washington Square Park, to protest his policies.

The protesters expressed solidarity with immigrants who have been torn away from their families by Trump administration’s anti-immigration agencies.

There were also similar events in several other cities, including Oakland, California.

Ironically, the protests came after Trump marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day by asking Americans to observe the holiday with acts of civic work and community service while he himself broke with the presidential tradition and spent the whole day at Mar-a-Lago.

Source: Presstv

Ambazonian cocoa farmers have been forced to abandon their crops and flee the violence from the Francophone security forces.

Tens of thousands of people from the Southern Cameroons have been forced to flee across the border into Nigeria in the last three months, to escape increasingly brutal violence by Francophone security forces of the country’s despotic Francophone leader, 84-year-old Paul Biya, who has been in power 37 years.

The violence started in 2016, but at the start was almost entirely one-sided violence, with the Francophone security forces violently attacking peaceful Anglophone protesters.

The violence in the Anglophone regions of Cameroons has resulted in a significant split in Cameroon’s Catholic Church, with accusations being launched between Anglophone bishops and Francophone bishops.

Femi Falana, lead counsel for President Sisiku AyukTabe and his top aides abducted in the Nigerian capital city of Abuja has informed the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia that the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Security Adviser have assured Ambazonians that their leaders are still being held in Nigeria, and the Buhari administration would not deliberately violate International Law to extradite their leaders to any other country including La République du Cameroun.

The renowned Barrister Falana will be permitted to visit them any moment from now. Reports of multiple killings are circulating on social media and panic has gripped several schools, including in Buea, the capital of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and in Muyuka and Tiko.

The United Nations is seeking to expand plans for resettling Ambazonia refugees in Nigeria.

Compiled by Chi Prudence Asong

The UNHCR Representative in Nigeria and ECOWAS, Antonio Jose Canhandula recently conducted a fact-finding mission to the various refugee camps hosting Ambazonians in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  Cameroon Concord News gathered that Mr. Antonio Jose made public a new UN plan to move all Southern Cameroons refugees further away from the Cameroonian border.

The decision that was taken on Thursday, 11 January 2018 by the Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Nigeria and the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Antonio Jose Canhandula has been welcomed by the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

“We are committed to working with the Government of Nigeria to ensure a safe community environment for Cameroonian refugees and their host communities in the Benue and Cross River states,” said Antonio Canhandula. UNHCR. “As such, our recommendation is that refugees should be removed from the border according to international standards,” he added.

UNHCR plans to set up temporary camps, “with a long-term vision to explore avenues that should allow refugees to live in host communities, to access opportunities where they can become more self-reliant and contribute to local economy of the host communities.

The UN body notes that since October 2017, refugees continue to arrive in the state of Cross River. “With regard to the number of Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria, the UNHCR representative noted that 8,050 refugees have been registered, mainly in Cross River State. Many more have not been registered.

According to UNHCR, the situation could worsen if a solution to the Ambazonia crisis is not quickly found. “The political dialogue is necessary because it will help put an end to the current crisis,” UNHCR advises.

By Rita Akana