News

16, April 2017

Dr. Boniface Forbin: Exit of a journalistic Icon ⁰

Dr. Boniface Forbin has met his end in his home in Yaoundé. The circumstances surrounding his death have not been made public by his family. The publisher-editor’s death may not be separated from The Herald Newspaper. Former newsmen and women including the Herald People have observed that at the inception of multiparty politics in Cameroon, relations between the Herald and the Biya administration took a nose-drive and the Herald Group took an unfriendly view of the regime (e. g, Biya’s fictitious anti-corruption campaign). Such became the unfolding of fishing in trouble waters…

Forbin resigned from the defunct Cameroon Airlines and started The Herald Newspaper. He understood that media freedom was better in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and North Korea than in Cameroon. He successfully taught Anglophone journalists the difficulty of being a reporter in Francophone dominated Cameroon.

Forbin and his kinsman Asong Ndifor invested time in training young correspondents on the challenge for Journalism in Cameroon. Forbin had the support of Napoleon Viban and men like Dr. Joachim Arrey, the late Kum Set Ewin, Peter Ngea Mbeng, Tabe Paul Blondo, Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai, Gerald Ndikum and the Herald Newspaper told the world that the story of the press in Cameroon was that of persecution and perseverance and closure of newspapers, often without an enabling law.

Forbin declared his unflinching support for the Publisher of the Cameroon Post Group, Paddy Mbawa over the Epey Mandengue Affair. Paddy Mbawa had been flogged, head shaved with broken glass and photos published by some sister Anglophone newspapers for 30 pieces of silver. Forbin stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the wives of journalists who suffered persecution. He was in a Douala hospital to see the wife of the late Pius Njawe who lost her baby after her husband was forced out of their home and taken to the New Bell prison.

He told this reporter when he joined the Herald from the Weekly Post that “When you really want to expose human rights abuses in Cameroon… it becomes more dangerous.” Rest in peace Doc

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

16, April 2017

3,000 refugees and asylum seekers have reportedly been rescued off the Libyan coast ⁰

Some 3,000 refugees and asylum seekers have reportedly been rescued from unseaworthy boats off the Libyan coast during a second day of operations in the Mediterranean Sea. The Italian coastguard made the announcement on Saturday, saying that the refugees had been pulled to safety during 35 rescue operations launched in the day. It said another 15 operations would be underway before nightfall.

An official with the German NGO Jugend Rettet, which participated in the operations, said a further 1,000 people remained to be rescued from inflatable dinghies as rescue ships had reached capacity. She added that the number of incoming refugees was expected to rise owing to the fine spring weather. Reports said most of the refugees were from sub-Saharan Africa, fleeing poverty and starvation there.

A day earlier, the Italian coastguard had carried out 19 rescue operations aided by NGOs, including the medical charity Doctors without Borders. A total of 2,074 refugees aboard 16 rubber rafts and three small wooden boats were taken to safety in those operations. Libya remains a major gateway for asylum seekers attempting to reach Europe via the Mediterranean Sea, with more than 450,000 people having made the crossing over the past three years.

Culled from Presstv

15, April 2017

North Korea vows due response if US attacks ⁰

Pyongyang has showcased its submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) for the first time during a massive military parade, with a senior North Korean official vowing due response to any attack against the East Asian nation. On Saturday, state TV showed images of the Pukkuksong-2 SLBMs and several KN-08 and KN-14 missiles on trucks along with tanks and other heavy military hardware being paraded on Kim Il Sung Square in the capital, Pyongyang.

Leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the parade which was celebrating the 105th birthday of state founder Kim Il Sung, his grandfather. He also addressed thousands of soldiers and people taking part in the celebrations. The event also paraded what appeared to be a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

It is the first time North Korea publicly displays the ballistic missiles, which have a range of over 1,000 km (600 miles), at a military parade. The parade comes as tensions have been simmering between North Korea and the US in recent weeks, raising fears of a potential military confrontation between the two sides. Washington has voiced concerns over Pyongyang’s nuclear tests, but the North says such launches are an act as deterrence against a potential invasion by the US or South Korea.

A man watches a live television program showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a massive parade marking the 105th birthday of national founder Kim Il Sung, at the Seoul train station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, April 15, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Prior to the parade, Kim’s close aide Choe Ryong-hae also addressed the participants, voicing the country’s readiness to respond in kind to any attack by enemies. “We’re prepared to respond to an all-out war with an all-out war and we are ready to hit back with nuclear attacks of our own style against any nuclear attacks,” Choe said.

Choe, who is believed to be the second-most powerful official in North Korea, further stated that the new US government under Donald Trump was “creating a war situation” on the Korean Peninsula by dispatching strategic military assets to the region.

People walk past a television screen broadcasting live footage of a parade to mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of North Korea’s founder Kim Il-Sung, at a railway station in Seoul on April 15, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Pyongyang also warned Washington on Saturday to end its “military hysteria” or face retaliation as a US aircraft carrier strike group headed towards the region. “All the brigandish provocative moves of the US in the political, economic and military fields pursuant to its hostile policy toward the DPRK will thoroughly be foiled through the toughest counteraction of the army and people of the DPRK,” the KCNA state news agency said, citing a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of the East Asian state. “Our toughest counteraction against the US and its vassal forces will be taken in such a merciless manner as not to allow the aggressors to survive,” it added. The development comes days after the US dispatched what Trump referred to as an “armada” of warships in a show of force into waters off the Korean peninsula amid concerns that Pyongyang was preparing another round of nuclear or missile tests.

Fears have grown since the US Navy fired Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airfield last week in a unilateral decision claiming ‘retaliation’ for an alleged chemical attack in the Arab country. The move triggered questions about Trump’s plans for North Korea, which has conducted several missile and nuclear tests. Moreover, Washington has warned that a policy of “strategic patience” with North Korea is over as US Vice President Mike Pence travels to South Korea on Sunday on a 10-day tour of Asia. This is while political analysts have played down Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric on different topics, including North Korea, saying he makes tough statements on an issue before understanding its complexity.

Source: Presstv

15, April 2017

Southern Cameroons: Fon Chaffah Isaac comes under attack from villagers ⁰

The people of Bangolan village situated in Babessi Sub division,Ngoketundjia in the North West region have stormed the village square demanding the departure of their Fon Chaffah Isaac XI.

Men, women including the youth say the Fon Chaffah is no longer permitted to enter and reside in the chiefdom. The Bangolans also observed that Fon Chaffah is no longer their traditional ruler. Fridays protest comes one year since the people of Bangolan staged a fierce demonstration which led to many deaths and several persons injured.

On March 19, 2016, the Bangolan palace came under attack when angry villagers besieged the palace demanding the Fon to leave. The Fon’s son was allegedly shot before palace guards retaliated by shooting and wounding some villagers.

The alternate Senator who opted for reconciliation in February last year has ever since not known peace in his village. His subjects accused him of defiling the tradition by publicly denouncing traditional practices by attending a crusade with Apostle John CHI. Salim, a man selected by the villagers as their new chief died last year under mysterious circumstances.

Source: Cameroun Info.Net

14, April 2017

Nigeria marks 3 years since schoolgirls’ mass abduction ⁰

Nigerians on Friday marked three years since the mass abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls by Boko Haram extremists amid anger that government efforts to negotiate their freedom appear to have stalled. Activists were expected to rally in the capital, Abuja, and commercial hub Lagos to urge President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to do more to free the nearly 200 schoolgirls who remain captive.

Nigeria in October announced the release of 21 of the Chibok schoolgirls after negotiations with the extremist group, and it said another group of 83 girls would be released “very soon.” No one has been freed since then. The government this week said negotiations have “gone quite far” but face challenges. It refused to give details, citing security reasons. The failure of Nigeria’s former government to free the girls sparked a global Bring Back Our Girls movement and was a factor in Buhari’s 2015 election win over former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The schoolgirls from Chibok village are among thousands of people abducted by the Nigeria-based Boko Haram as it continues to threaten parts of the northeast and has spread into neighboring countries. The Chibok abduction is not even the largest. Nigerian officials refuse to acknowledge the abduction of more than 500 children from the northeastern town of Damasak in November 2014, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said last month. Nigerian officials have not responded to requests by The Associated Press for information.

Buhari late last year announced that Boko Haram had been “crushed,” but it continues to carry out deadly suicide bombings, often strapping them to young women. Children have been used to carry out 27 attacks in the first three months of this year, already nearing last year’s total of 30, the UN children’s agency said this week.

On Wednesday, Nigerian security officials said they had thwarted plans by Daesh-linked Boko Haram members to attack the embassies of the United States and Britain, along with “other Western interests” in the capital. One faction of Boko Haram is allied with Daesh.

Nigeria’s military in the past year has rescued thousands of Boko Haram captives while liberating towns and villages from the group’s control, but many have been detained as possible Boko Haram suspects. Boko Haram’s seven-year uprising has killed more than 20,000 people and driven 2.6 million from their homes, with millions facing starvation because of the disruption in markets and agriculture.

Source Presstv

14, April 2017

22 killed in fire at Senegal religious retreat ⁰

Nearly two dozen people have been killed in a fire that tore through a religious ceremony southeast of Senegal. Government spokesman Seydou Gueye said Thursday that the fire had engulfed a Muslim spiritual retreat in Medina Gounass village a day earlier, killing 22 and wounding several others. Local media reported that makeshift shelters and strong winds helped the fire spread, but there was no report on the cause of the incident.

A senior official with the firefighting service said the fire broke out around noon local time as worshippers gathered for the retreat, adding that some were hurt in a crush triggered by the blaze. Others said 20 of the injured were in critical conditions and were receiving treatment at the regional hospital in Tambacounda city, about 80 kilometers away.

Witnesses said all straw shelters constructed for the religious event were completely burnt in the fire and only modern tents were relatively spared from the fury of the flames. “The fire burned through everything in its path,” said a resident. Images circulated online showed billowing smoke, charred corpses of animals and burnt-out cars.

President Macky Sall held a press conference and offered condolences to the victims’ families. Reports said he was due to visit the site of the blaze later on Thursday. Senegal’s interior minister had already paid a visit to the site. Thousands of men from Senegal, Guinea and other West African countries attend the annual spiritual gathering in Medina Gounass.

A similar incident in the area in 2010 killed six people. Nine children were also killed in a blaze in 2013 in a religious school, prompting an outcry in the Muslim-majority Senegal.

Source Presstv

14, April 2017

Cameroon lives and bath in alcohol ⁰

Cameroon has been ranked first in the consumption of alcoholic beverage in Central and West Africa. The listing was made public following research carried out by LVnextCentury, a firm based in Paris. The ranking was obtained on the basis of the figures provided by the main brewing companies in the various countries of the continent. The biggest consumer for the entire continent is South Africa.

According to figures released by SABC, the country’s largest beer company, overall beer sales in Cameroon in 2015 was estimated at about 6,600,000 hl (660 million liters), including imports. On average, a Cameroonian consumes 36 liters of alcoholic beverage per year.

The middle and the poor, who largely constitute the Cameroonian society, are most affected by the phenomenon of alcoholism. Young people in school are not spared by the drinking phenomenon. Three quarters of the Cameroonian population devote nearly half of their income to alcohol consumption in a country where the GDP per capita is US $ 1,328.64 (2013) and in which more than 48% of the population, lives below the UN poverty line.

By Chi Prudence Asong

14, April 2017

Minister Belinga Eboutou meets Biya amid ill health rumours ⁰

Minister Martin Belinga Eboutou, the Director of the Civil Cabinet at the Presidency of the Republic has reportedly resumed service after a few weeks of unavailability due to poor health. The Biya acolyte re-emerged in public at the Yaounde-Nsimalen International Airport to welcome the Head of State home after the visit to Italy and a vacation in Swiss on Wednesday 12 April 2017.

Recently, official communiqués issued by the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency of the Republic did not carry his name and signature. Martin Belinga Eboutou has been present for almost ten years on all the foreign trips made by the Cameroonian dictator. However, he was conspicuously absent from the last official presidential trip to Italy and the Vatican from 20 to 23 March 2017.

A well-placed source hinted Cameroon Concord News that Belinga Eboutou was very ill when President Biya and wife left country and that all is indeed not well for the demagogue. The 77-year-old was evacuated to Europe in the middle of last year. He returned safely in July 2016 and ended a rumor that had said he had traveled to the land of his ancestors.

By Rita Akana

13, April 2017

Nigeria: Four dead in army, police clashes ⁰

A bloody clash between the army and police in Nigeria’s restive northeastern Yobe State on Wednesday left one soldier and three police dead, a security source told AFP. The police confirmed the fracas in the state capital of Damaturu, but did not say if there were casualties. “The Nigeria police force is abreast of the unfortunate incident that occurred in the early hours of today 12th April, 2017 in Damaturu between the personnel of the force and that of the Nigerian army,” police spokesman Jimoh Moshood said in a statement.

He said an investigation had been launched to determine “the causes of the incident and deal with the situation appropriately to prevent such occurrence in the future.” The army authorities were not immediately available for comment. A security officer, who did not want to be named, told AFP trouble began on Tuesday when an army officer in a mufti (civilian dress) ran into a convoy of the head of the police mobile unit in Damaturu.

“The army officer was beaten up by the police for his action. This morning, soldiers stormed the police station and took away the head of the mobile unit to their military base,” he said. He said the soldiers’ action angered some police officers who invaded the army base to free their boss. “There was a shootout in which a soldier and a policeman were killed on the spot while two policemen who were injured later died of their wounds,” he said. Yobe and two other states — Borno and Adamawa — in the northeast are the worst-hit in the eight-year Boko Haram militancy in Nigeria.

Source Presstv

13, April 2017

UN flays Biya regime over arrest of Consortium leaders and internet shutdown ⁰

The Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations has revealed that the world body wants a rapid resolution of the socio-political crisis that has shaken the Anglophone regions of Cameroon for nearly six months. This is the message François Louncény Fall gave to officials of La Republique du Cameroun.

During his visit to Yaoundé on the 12^th of April 2017, François Louncény Fall, also Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa, met with the Secretary General at the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, Justice Minister Laurent Esso, Minister of External Relations, Lejeune Mbella Mbella and Martin Mbarga Nguelé, Delegate General for National Security.

The UN Secretary General’s Special Representative said the UN has welcomed the measures announced by the Minister for Justice but added that the Secretary General, Antonio Guterres is hoping for a rapid implementation of these promises.

The UN Special envoy further pointed out that an appeasement policy should be initiated with Southern Cameroonians and should involve the release of the leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium arrested in connection with the crisis. Louncény Fall was at the Kondengui Prison where he met Barrister Agbor Balla and the radio host, Mancho Bibixy, who are among the 27 people who face the death penalty.

François Louncény Fall condemned the decision to shut down the internet and the arrest of the leaders of the Consortium. The cutting off of the internet is a measure taken by the Francophone government on the 17^th of January and which has already cost the Cameroonian economy more than 2 billion FCFA.

By Rita Akana